I 


1 


OF 


THEODORE  PARKER. 


THROUGH  THE  INSPIRATION  OF 


SARAH    A.    RAMSDELL. 


BOSTON : 

PEESS  OF  RAND,   AVERY,   &  CO. 
1876. 


PREFACE. 


THE  circumstances  and  conditions  under  which  this  book 
was  written  render  their  brief  narration  important,  in  jus- 
tice both  to  the  medium  and  the  inspiring  intelligence. 

It  is  due  to  the  medium,  a  lady  of  unimpeachable  integ- 
rity and  candor,  because,  whatever  judgment  unbiased 
criticism  may  render  upon  the  statements  and  sentiments 
herein  contained,  or  their  form  of  expression,  as  corrobora- 
tive, or  otherwise,  of  their  purported  authorship,  it  is  quite 
certain  that  Miss  Ramsdell  can  not,  under  the  circumstances, 
be  deemed  to  have  originated  them. 

It  is  due  to  the  invisible  author,  because  the  limitations 
imposed  upon  the  utterance  of  his  thoughts  by  the  peculi- 
arities of  the  medium's  organization,  and  her  limited  literary 
culture,  must  necessarily  have  modified  his  effort. 

Miss  Sarah  A.  E-amsdell,  the  amanuensis  of  this  volume, 
was,  at  the  time  of  her  development  as  a  medium,  engaged 
with  her  sister  in  the  business  of  dressmaking  at  Lake 
City,  Minn.  Attending  by  invitation  two  or  three  spirit- 
ual circles,  she  found  herself,  at  one  of  these  gatherings, 
thrown  into  a  semi-trance  condition,  and  powerfully  im- 
pelled to  write  the  thoughts  that  crowded  upon  her  mind. 

3 


4  PREFACE. 

This  she  did;  and  the  result  was,  at  several  sittings,  the 
production  of  short  essays  upon  various  subjects,  purporting 
to  be  dictated  by  Theodore  Parker  in  spirit-life. 

Miss  Kamsdell  had  no  acquaintance  whatever  with  the 
history,  character,  or  writings  of  Mr.  Parker.  She  had  heard 
of  him,  in  a  general  way,  but  had  never  had  occasion  to 
know  or  think  of  him  particularly.  Some  of  these  essays 
were  published  in  a  spiritual  journal,  and  others  read  before 
public  assemblies  in  different  places ;  being  received  with 
decided  pleasure  and  appreciation.  In  the  spring  of  1869, 
the  author  announced  his  intention  of  writing  a  history  of 
his  spirit-life ;  but  it  was  not  commenced  until  the  autumn 
of  the  same  year. 

When  writing,  the  medium  experiences  great  exaltation 
of  feeling ;  a  glow  of  intense  pleasurable  activity  of  the 
mental  faculties,  through  which,  thoughts  and  language 
seem  to  flow  as  from  an  inexhaustible  fountain,  without 
obstruction,  save  from  the  difficulty  of  writing  fast  enough 
to  keep  the  stream  of  inspiration  within  the  channel  of 
language.  Although  intensely  conscious  of  her  occupation, 
she  is  so  absorbed  in  it  as  to  be  practically  unconscious  of 
what  is  transpiring  around  her.  The  writing  continues  at 
each  sitting  so  long  as  the  mental  control  is  retained  by 
the  spirit-author,  and  is  resumed  whenever  a  premonition 
of  his  desire  to  communicate  is  received. 

Having  enjoyed  no  other  advantages  of  education  than 
those  afforded  by  a  common  school  in  the  country  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  Miss  Eamsdell  has  never  been  ambitious  of 
literary  distinction ;  nor  had  the  thought  of  authorship  ever 


PREFACE.  5 

crossed  her  mind.  Finding  herself  thus  unexpectedly  se- 
lected for  what  she  believes  to  be  an  important  and  benefi- 
cent work,  she  desires,  in  humility,  to  prove  faithful  to  her 
spirit-guide  ;  and  therefore  publishes  this  work  at  his  desire. 
Having  verified  many  of  the  facts  communicated  to  her  by 
the  spirit,  and  feeling  positive  of  his  identity  through  the 
evidence  interiorly  imparted  to  her,  she  proposes  still  further 
to  co-operate  with  him  in  these  efforts  to  enlighten  the 
world  upon  the  great  subject  of  man's  spiritual  nature  and 
relations. 

This  work  is  one  of  a  large  and  constantly-accumulating 
class  of  volumes  purporting  to  be  written  or  constructed  in 
the  spiritual  world  by  authors  who  were  once  mortal  inhab- 
itants of  the  earth.  Their  intrinsic  character  alone  will  be 
the  test  by  which  the  critical  mind  will  judge  of  the  proba- 
ble truthfulness  of  these  claims.  It  is  not,  however,  at  all 
incompatible  with  honesty  and  good  faith  on  the  part  of  the 
mediums,  if  the  books  thus  written  should  not,  in  all  cases, 
justify  their  claim  of  authorship. 

The  psychological  border-land  between  the  spheres  of 
spiritual  and  mundane  existence  has  not  been  yet  so  thor- 
oughly explored  as  to  enable  any  one  in  the  body  to  dog- 
matize upon  the  conditions  under  which  mortals  and  immor- 
tals may  best  meet  and  hold  communion  together.  They 
who  have  passed  from  earth  seem  in  our  day  and  generation 
to  be  experimenting  in  this  direction ;  and  the  crude  results 
of  their  experiments,  in  the  various  forms  of  manifestation 
now  so  common,  are  properly  the  subject  of  patient  study 
by  those  to  whom  they  are  submitted. 


THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF  THEODORE  PARKER. 


INT  giving  my  spirit-fife  to  the  world,  I  have  two  points 
at  issue.  First  I  desire  to  show  to  the  world  my  present 
existence,  outside,  untrammeled,  and  for  ever  from  the  flesh ; 
show  my  whereabouts,  condition,  and  occupation  in  my  pres- 
ent locality.  Now,  in  order  to  do  this,  I  must  get  entire 
possession  of  my  medium,  through  which  my  light  will 
shine  to  the  world.  I  must  have  her  confidence,  will,  sight, 
and  hearing ;  must  let  loose  my  cable,  and  draw  her  to  the 
spirit-world;  I  must  give  her  a  tangible  insight  to  my 
present  sphere  of  use.  This  book  contains  my  experience 
from  1854  until  1869,  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  I  have  been 
casting  about  for  some  time  for  the  conditions  by  which  I 
could  labor  to  advantage.  I  now  hope  to  give  a  work  to  the 
public  that  will  be  instructive,  and  worthy  of  a  wide  circu- 
lation. 

The  second  point  at  issue  is  the  development  of  the  lady 
under  my  control,  —  a  lady  of  great  mediumistic  worth,  pos- 
sessing rare  powers  in  the  background,  to  be  brought  for- 
ward when  the  demand  calls  for  them. 

Fraternally  yours, 

THEODORE  PARKER. 

[Given  through  the  mediumship  of  Miss  Sarah  A.  Eamsdell  when  in  a 
semi-trance  condition,  1869.] 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I.  —  MY  SPIRIT  HOME 11 

CHAPTER  II.  — THE  DUTIES  OF  SPIRIT-LIFE 14 

CHAPTER  IIL      .       .       . 17 

CHAPTER  IV 19 

CHAPTER  V "...  22 

CHAPTER  VI 24 

CHAPTER  VH 28 

CHAPTER  VUI 30 

CHAPTER  IX 32 

CHAPTER  X 37 

CHAPTER  XI 39 

CHAPTER  XII 41 

CHAPTER  XIH 44 

CHAPTER  XIV. 48 

CHAPTER  XV 49 

CHAPTER  XVI 61 

CHAPTER  XVII 63 

CHAPTER  XVin 65 

CHAPTER  XIX 69 

CHAPTER  XX 60 

CHAPTER  XXI .       .       .  .       .61 

9 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXII 63 

CHAPTER  XXIII 64 

CHAPTER  XXIV 66 

CHAPTER  XXV 67 

CHAPTER  XXVI 68 

CHAPTER  XXVII 70 

CHAPTER  XXVIH 71 

CHAPTER  XXIX 72 

CHAPTER  XXX 73 

CHAPTER  XXXI 74 

CHAPTER  XXXII.      .       . 75 

CHAPTER  XXXIII 76 

CHVPTER  XXXIV 77 

CHAPTER  XXXV.  —  AN  APPENDIX  TO  THE  FOREGOING  WORK  .  78 

CHAPTER  XXXVI 79 

CHAPTER  XXXVII 80 

CHAPTER  XXXVHI 81 

CHAPTER  XXXIX 82 

CHAPTER  XL.    .  83 


THE    SPIKIT-LIFE 

OF 

THEODORE    PARKER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MY    SPIRIT-HOME. 

HOME  is  a  word  we  love  to  linger  on ;  it  brings  around 
our  hearts  a  confiding  trust  and  repose ;  it  is  a  word 
above  all  others  most  beautiful ;  it  touches  the  heart 
with  new  springs  of  action,  lights  up  our  saddest  mo- 
ments, and  flings  its  halo  of  peace  around  the  troubled 
waters  of  life.  The  word  "  home  "  thrills  our  whole 
emotional  nature  ;  it  gushes  through  our  hearts  like  the 
rich  cadence  of  some  woodland  bird,  pouring  forth  its 
joy  in  song.  My  spirit-home, — it  spreads  around  me  like 
an  ocean  in  repose,  bathes  me  with  the  effulgent  rays 
of  a  summer's  noontide  glory ;  it  fathoms  my  every  wish 
and  thought,  finds  me  wherever  in  space  the  line  of  my 
research  takes  me  ;  it  fills  my  whole  being  with  delight, 
and  wafts  me  on  to  higher  realms  of  thought.  My  spir- 
it-home !  ever  fling  your  wealth  of  beauty  around  me, 
ever  take  me  to  your  heart's  deepest  treasures  of  wealth 
and  knowledge  to  the  soul,  ever  bear  me  on  the  wings 
of  love  to  fathom  the  mysterious  courts  hung  out  in 

11 


12  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

space,  fling  out  thy  starry  petals  of  love  to  catch  the 
wayfaring  children  of  earth,  and  bring  them  to  a  haven 
of  repose  where  earth's  temptations  can  not  affect  the 
soul.  Thy  gleaming  lights  are  spread  around  my  feet, 
are  hoisted  high  above  my  head,  spread  far  and  wide  to 
catch  the  onward  march  of  mind.  My  spirit-home  ! 
thy  deep-seated  attributes  of  truth  and  love  I  would 
now  speak.  I  would  now  hold  my  spirit-life  out  to  the 
world,  to  be  tested  by  the  hand  of  science,  and  fath- 
omed by  God's  delving-rod  of  philosophical  merit.  I 
would  have  the  truth  of  my  individualization  now  and 
for  evermore  a  settled  fact  on  earth.  For  me  to  say 
here,  to  declare  through  my  present  medium,  that  I  still 
possess  the  blessing  of  life,  still  possess  every  attribute 
of  mind,  still  possess  the  key-note  to  endless  progres- 
sion, is  not  enough  for  the  world  to-day.  I  must  bring 
forth  evidence  sufficient  to  substantiate  my  claim,  I 
must  lay  aside  every  barrier,  and  step  back  to  the  world 
—  Theodore  Parker.  When  I  cast  off  my  worn-out 
physical  nature,  I  was  under  sunny  skies,  tended  by 
earth's  ministering  angels  of  love  and  mercy.  Every 
care  that  earth  could  give  was  freely  bestowed ;  but 
the  law  of  Nature  required  her  own,  and  I  was  forced 
to  give  up  my  earthly  tabernacle,  forced  to  enter  on  a 
new  mission.  I  did  not  do  that  willingly,  I  felt  I  was 
beinoj  defrauded ;  felt  that  the  earth  from  which  I  was 

O  * 

being  removed  was  full  of  mysteries  that  I  had  hoped  to 
fathom.  I  felt,  that,  deep  within  her  receptacles,  were 
truths  for  me  to  reach.  I  did  not  suppose,  from  the 
knowledge  I  then  possessed,  that  the  power  would  still 
be  left  me.  I  supposed  that  my  labors  would  tend  to  the 
future  ;  that  earth  would  hold  nothing  in  common  for  me  ; 


THEODORE  PARKER.  13 

that  we  were  wide  apart ;  that  her  storehouse  of  treas- 
ures would  be  closed  against  me  ;  that  far  away  in  space 
I  should  find  my  work.  I  felt  confident  there  was  no 
power  to  chain  my  mind ;  but  I  desired  a  longer  earth- 
experience  ;  desired  a  wider  cope  with  theology ;  de- 
sired to  bring  Nature  to  combat,  and  show  wherein  the- 
ology had  been  weaving  a  web  to  get  tangled  in.  I  had 
been  reared,  or  rather  I  had  reared  a  free  platform 
whereon  I  could  stand,  and  wait  for  truths  to  come  to 
the  rescue.  I  knew  that  error  would  surely  be  washed, 
and  I  desired  a  life  of  materiality  to  help  do  the  work. 
I  now  thank  my  God  that  the  wish  was  denied  me,  for, 
in  being  removed  from  earth,  I  was  brought  nearer  to 
her.  I  find  myself  holding  more  knowledge  of  God's 
laws  than  earth  could  have  given  me  in  the  space  of 
time  ;  I  find  myself  invested  with  a  power  to  unlock  the 
scientific  world,  which  years  of  research  on  earth  would 
have  only  partially  developed.  I  am  brought  nearer  to 
earth  by  my  desire  to  fathom  all  the  mysteries  of  cause 
and  effect,  to  uproot  every  hidden  principle  in  her  king- 
dom, to  bring  Nature  to  the  platform  for  a  thorough  in- 
vestigation into  all  her  subtle  chambers  wherein  God 
has  placed  a  key  to  unlock  the  passages  that  lead  from 
"  nature  up  to  nature's  God."  My  soul  drinks  in  the 
beauties  of  earth  with  new  delight,  takes  up  her  pages 
of  worth,  and  reads  God's  messages  of  love  spread 
broadcast  and  free.  O  thou  God  in  nature !  to  thee 
we  look  for  truths  to  lead  us  up  to  thy  throne  eternal ;  to 
thee  we  look  for  a  basis-ground  to  rear  our  tabernacle 
of  trust  and  repose  ;  to  thee  my  soul  goes  back  with  its 
divine  afflatus  of  strength  to  leave  no  corner  unsearched, 
no  background  in  thy  broad  arena  unculled.  I  must 


14  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OP 

have  thy  treasured  wealth,  O  earth  !  to  lead  me  up  the 
steps  of  scientific  exploration,  —  a  field  wherein  all  could 
gather  strength  and  courage  for  the  battle  of  life. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   PUTIES    OF    SPIRIT-LIFE. 

IN  the  foregoing  chapter,  I  alluded  to  my  present 
ability  to  visit  earth,  or,  rather,  to  the  fact  that  earth  holds 
me  still  by  the  power  of  social  attraction  and  available 
truths,  that  I  must  have  in  order  to  culminate  a  pur- 
pose which  God  has  in  store  for  me.  My  duty  lies  in 
my  ability,  in  my  power  to  see  and  realize  what  is  re- 
quired of  me.  God  gave  me  a  mind  of  research,  and 
also  gave  me  the  power  back  of  mind,  the  impetus  of 
will,  to  aid  me  in  pulling  down  theories,  and  establishing 
facts.  Where  God  has  given  much,  much  is  required. 
My  innate  power  of  comprehension  throws  much  re- 
sponsibility around  my  soul.  I  am  laboring  to  establish 
a  free  platform,  whereon  every  person  can  stand  and 
drink  from  the  perennial  spring  of  knowledge,  unbiased 
or  untrammeled  by  creeds.  My  duties  lead  in  that 
direction.  The  sophistry  of  covering  up  truths  and 
promulgating  error  is  time-worn  and  unprofitable  ;  the 
hungry  mind  is  becoming  fastidious.  The  sugar-coating 
of  egotism  and  self-delusion  does  not  disguise  the  bitter 
pill  of  partial  destruction.  The  mind  is  no  longer  will- 
ing to  be  fed  from  that  source  of  enjoyment.  There 


THEODORE  PARKER.  15 

is  a  disposition  to  break  in  on  a  new  field,  where  sympa- 
thetic emotion  can  be  felt,  and  the  brain  not  paralyzed  for 
want  of  the  proper  digestive  nutriment.  I  may  be  fool- 
hardy to  advance  my  system  at  the  present  time ;  but 
"  nothing  venture,  nothing  have  "  is  a  true  saying,  and 
one  I  ever  held  to.  My  duty  as  a  free-thinking,  indi- 
vidualized character,  surmounts  every  obstacle  of  policy, 
or  any  undue  solicitude  of  public  favor.  Justice  re- 
quires of  me  a  full  and  descriptive  detail  of  my  present 
power  to  serve  God  and  mammon  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
to  serve  the  kingdom  of  heaven  by  direct  taxation  on 
earth.  I  propose  to  divide  my  spirit-life  into  two  cantos. 
The  first  shall  embrace  a  portion  of  time  while  I  was  in 
the  body,  a  wanderer  on  earth,  with  a  spirit  embodiment 
distinct  in  space.  The  second  canto  will  take  in  my 
spiritual  state,  independent  of  my  earth-form.  A  few 
years  previous  to  my  leaving  earth  (as  the  saying  goes), 
I  took  up  a  new  phase"  of  life.  I  determined  to  live 
the  religion  I  taught ;  determined  to  embrace  the 
Christ-principle  in  all  the  deeds  done  in  the  body ;  de- 
termined to  foster  no  ill-will  to  any  one,  to  bind  on 
my  armor  of  trust  and  confidence  in  my  own  integrity 
of  purpose  to  reach  the  standard  to  which  I  aimed.  My 
spiritual  existence  was  just  as  much  a  fact  to  me  then  as 
now.  I  knew  the  interior  being  was  the  true  man  ;  I 
knew,  as  soon  as  dissolution  of  the  body  took  place,  I 
was  winged  for  flight;  I  knew  that  the  outstretch  of 
worlds  were  within  the  pale  of  my  research ;  that  eter- 
nity awaited  me  with  its  varied  experiences  that  I  must 
pass  through  ;  and  I  determined  to  make  my  life  one  of 
duty,  and  reap  my  pleasures  from  that  channel.  Life 
always  wore  its  serious  face  for  me.  I  never  could  trifle 


16  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

with  time  :  it  always  seemed  precious  in  my  sight. 
Earth  held  charms  for  me  I  can  never  forget;  and, 
while  I  sought  in  the  flesh  to  advance  every  Christian 
principle  that  came  within  my  scope  of  experience,  I 
also  sought  a  life  to  correspond  with  my  teachings.  Up 
to  1854,  my  biographers  would  state  my  harassed  con- 
dition of  mind,  and  my  unwavering  determination  to 
push  my  theory  through  every  obstacle  that  impeded 
light  to  my  famished  soul.  Creeds  dropped  away  from 
me  very  easily,  because  they  were  not  consistent  with 
God's  plan  of  salvation,  which  was  to  draw  all  nations 
unto  himself  in  the  fullness  of  his  own  time.  I  could 
not  believe  in  a  partial  God  that  was  so  far  removed 
from  justice  and  right  that  I  was  never  crucified  in  that 
direction.  God  ever  rose  above  any  impulse  or  change 
in  my  estimate  of  his  characteristics.  He  was  the  im- 
perishable seed,  rooted  firm  and  deep  in  every  thing 
bearing  life.  The  Bible  version  of  God  wraps  him  in 
mystery.  Now,  if  I  am  to  have  a  Saviour  outside  of 
any  power  of  my  own,  I  desire  a  full  and  complete 
knowledge  of  that  Saviour.  Nothing  short  will  satisfy 
me,  because  I  am  so  constituted,  so  organized,  that  mys- 
teries contain  no  charm  for  me  ;  and  never  can  I  wor- 
ship a  being  clothed  with  attributes  that  do  not  reach 
my  soul.  Up  to  the  period  last  stated,  the  world  looked 
on  me  as  an  interloper ;  considered  me  averse  to  the 
Christian  religion,  because  I  could  not  subscribe  to 
creeds ;  called  me  fanatic,  a  chosen  one  to  mete  out 
destruction  to  a  people  who  received  religion  second- 
handed  from  God,  and  done  up  more  to  suit  emergen- 
cies than  as  an  appeal  to  reason,  or  as  a  guide  to  our 
wandering  footsteps.  Thus,  while  the  outside  world 


THEODORE  PARKER.  17 

condemned  me,  I  sought  my  convictions  of  right  from 
nature,  and  my  own  innate  purity  of  purpose. 

The  year  1854  found  me  a  settled  pastor  over  a  peo- 
-ple  living  within  the  confines  of  Boston.  I  was  chosen 
there  to  give  light  to  a  few  that  needed  rest  from  the- 
ology. Their  souls  were  famishing  for  the  bread  of 
life  outside  of  the  written  testimony.  Allegory  was 
losing  its  power  to  succor  the  mind.  Those  few  souls 
that  needed  me  found  me  willing  and  ready  to  advance 
my  theory  of  Unitarian  salvation.  I  made  my  platform  as 
broad  as  possible,  and  still  it  could  not  reach  my  wants. 
My  hearers  must  have  realized  the  dissatisfaction  bear- 
ing down  on  me.  I  wanted  to  fly  away  from  even  that 
small  restraint  of  creed.  I  wanted  a  worship  that  could 
take  every  soul  to  the  altar  of  truth  where  no  binding 
cord  could  lay  its  unction  of  claim. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  parish  over  which  I  presided  could  not  accept 
my  theory  only  half-way.  Tlie  bare  outlines  held  them 
while  I  was  drinking  from  the  fountain  inexhaustible, 
and  trying  to  purify  the  outward  channels  that  moved 
society.  My  life  found  its  pleasures  in  the  sure  knowl- 
edge I  was  gaining  of  the  true  religion.  My  labors 
were  not  thankless  as  far  as  the  outward  manifestations 
were  displayed.  I  had  many  warm  and  genial  friends, 
who  took  my  counsel  and  advice  as  something  needed 
about  their  souls.  They,  no  doubt,  thought  me  wild 

2 


18  THE   SPIEIT-LIFE  OF 

and  radical  after  my  outreach  after  principles  that  to 
them  seemed  unnecessary  to  carry  on  a  work  of  Chris- 
tian duty ;  but  the  impetus  that  led  me  ever  bore  the 
stamp  of  success.  I  do  not  know  why  it  is ;  but  my  mind 
wanders  out  on  the  chain  of  endless  progression.  I  feel 
that  there  is  truth  somewhere  for  every  noble  impulse 
of  my  mind  to  grasp.  I  feel  like  taking  earth  on  my 
journey  of  research,  and  making  her  castles  of  error 
disburse  their  flimsy  stock  of  truth.  I  know  my  journey 
leads  up  many  a  steep  and  rugged  path ;  but  my  soul 
puts  on  its  armor  of  defiance,  and  I  walk  gladly  on. 
We  too  often  let  our  souls  lag  for  want  of  a  purpose  to 
claim  our  attention,  and  start  us  forward  to  find  our  end 
of  God's  progressive  law.  I  never  look  back  on  my 
earth-experience  but  to  find  fault  with  my  gleanings. 
Her  pastures  green  should  have  fed  me  with  more  mo- 
tive power  for  action.  I  was  too  inefficient  in  my  own 
strength.  My  energies  should  have  been  nursed  by  the 
thunderbolt  of  Puritanic  discord ;  I  never  should  have 
slumbered  over  a  gulf  of  uncertainty ;  I  should  have 
sought  my  shadowed  future  for  seeds  of  truth  to 
have  planted  by  the  wayside,  and  made  green  every 
field  of  labor  wherein  rested  a  doubt  of  ultimate  suc- 
cess. But  my  friends  in  Boston  and  vicinity  must 
drink  from  the  fountain  of  perpetual  youth,  made  clear 
and  plain  by  the  ovations  of  hope,  presented  by  the 
lagging  energies  of  Theodore  Parker.  I  shall  culmi- 
nate a  purpose  in  your  midst,  that,  fifteen  years  ago, 
seemed  likely  to  terminate  in  defeat.  I  shall  hoist  my 
flag  of  truce,  and  come  over  to  the  enemy's  quarters 
with  a  diligence-express  bearing  the  seeds  of  promise 
that  must  root  and  grow  in  your  midst. 


THEODOEE  PARKER.  19 


CHAPTER  IV. 

IT  may  be  well  to  state  my  determination  to  push  my 
theory  in  and  about  every  triumphant  seat  of  error  in 
the  land.  I  shall  adopt  the  ways  and  means  that  I 
can  best  command.  I  shall  send  forth  my  speakers 
whenever  I  can  harness  them  with  my  individuality, 
whenever  I  can  control  the  synopsis  of  their  fate  with- 
out injury  to  any  part  of  their  being.  This  is  a  work 
that  few  in  spirit-life  undertake,  because  it  is  fraught 
with  such  uncertain  results.  There  is  no  power  to  hold 
me  back  from  duty.  I  must  use  my  lever  of  strength  to 
suit  the  demand  of  the  times.  I  must  lay  my  unction 
of  hope  on  the  altar  of  well  doing,  and  abide  by  the  re- 
sults of  my  labors.  I  must  grasp  every  tree  that  bears 
a  branch  of  use  to  help  carry  on  my  work  of  destruc- 
tion, to  help  lay  aside  the  fettered  yoke  of  ignorance 
and  superstition.  I  would  that  my  friends  on  the  earth- 
plane  could  realize  how  much  of  my  energetic  hope  is 
vested  in  their  welfare,  how  much  my  spirit  clings 
around  the  vesper-chimes  of  bygone  days,  how  much  I 
feel  for  the  welfare  of  the  world  that  gave  me  birth, 
how  I  cling  to  those  old  associations  that  bridge  up  the 
past  with  the  present  and  future,  how  I  long  to  break 
the  spell,  and  let  the  captive  world  free  to  drink  from 
the  fountain  that  never  runs  dry  !  I  must  await  the 
prestige  of  time,  that  ever  deals  gently  and  truly  with 
the  purposes  of  eternity.  It  may  be  remembered  by 
my  biographers,  that,  late  in  the  fall  of  1859,  I  was  at- 
tacked with  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs ;  that  it  was  con- 


20  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

sidered  advisable  for  me  to  flee  to  some  warmer  clime ; 
that  the  terror  of  earth  was  bearing  down  on  me  with 
sure  success.  I  witnessed  the  innovations  of  the  de- 
stroyer with  feelings  that  bordered  on  madness.  I  saw 
my  sustaining  props  leaving  me  one  by  one,  saw  my  in- 
efficiency t  j  keep  my  body  before  the  public,  saw  the 
sure  destruction  of  my  earthly  tabernacle ;  and  I  wa- 
vered in  my  idea  of  a  just  God.  I  started  on  my  tour 
of  investigation  for  ways  and  means  to  patch  up  the 
outward  man,  while  the  inner  citadel  of  strength  could 
pull  away  the  obsolete  theories  that  were  traveling 
through  the  world  without  purpose  or  aim.  I  visited 
Santa  Cruz,  and  found  in  her  utmost  limits  of  sunshine 
and  shadow  no  spiral  wreath  of  hope  for  me.  The  mys- 
tic touches  of  a  funeral-pyre  looked  me  in  the  face.  I 
tried  to  think  myself  submissive ;  tried  to  see  my  way 
clear  through  the  drifting  events  that  were  crowding 
around  me  ;  tried  to  think  my  duty  lay  in  submission : 
but  the  calmness  that  was  presented  to  the  world  was 
all  on  the  fading  surface.  When  I  saw  my  physical 
power  departing  from  me  without  regard  to  any  skill 
of  man,  I  formed  a  resolution  to  break  away  from  the 
bonds  of  the  Church.  I  thought,  on  entering  on  my 
untried  mission,  that  I  would  have  no  binding  cord  but 
the  one  of  friendship  left  on  earth  and  in  my  heart.  I 
had  grown  away  from  every  restraint  of  church  creed  ; 
I  had  no  friendship  for  the  tie  ;  it  hung  around  me  like 
an  error  that  my  judgment  disapproved  of;  it  had  its 
mountain-weight  of  infidelity  to  truth.  I  could  not  see 
my  way  clear  while  I  had  that  attachment  of  inefficient 
aid ;  it  bound  me  outwardly  with  its  influence,  while 
my  mind  was  walking  bold  and  upright  away  from  the 


THEODORE  PARKER.  21 

restraint.  Let  me  here  state,  as  an  axiom  of  truth,  that 
no  individualized  mind  capable  of  ferreting  out  the  ways 
and  means  to  the  true  salvation  should  allow  the  stain 
of  creed  to  mar  the  surface  of  the  free  torch  presented 
to  the  world.  I  do  not  say  there  should  be  no  syste- 
matic course  in  conducting  Christianity  on  earth  ;  but  I 
do  say,  let  there  be  a  broad  basis  of  freedom  underlying 
every  institution  that  gathers  the  seeds  of  the  Christian 
religion  into  its  fold  of  worship.  I  do  say,  let  Christ 
triumph,  let  his  spirit  enter  every  church-door  with 
every  individual  entrance,  and  creed  would  soon  drop 
from  our  midst,  and  we  would  find  our  way  securely, 
supported  by  the  props  of  love  and  duty  to  each  other. 
The  Christian  religion  was  entered  upon  in  the  days 
when  mind  was  in  its  infancy  of  attainment  and  research, 
when  barbaric  ignorance  was  creeping  away  from 
Christ's  fold  of  love  and  mercy.  The  Christian  religion 
has  worked  its  way,  step  by  step,  into  the  soul-element 
of  humanity ;  has  dug  its  way  through  every  stage  of 
development  of  mind  and  matter  to  the  present  time  in 
the  world's  history;  and  each  offshoot  from  the  old 
Mecca  of  intolerant  despotism  has  taken  a  broader  plat- 
form of  liberal  thought,  and  every  outreach  of  princi- 
ple has  gathered  more  love  into  its  stringent  receptacles. 
The  world  has  carried  on  her  work  with  even-handed 
justice  and  mercy ;  no  serious  outgushes  of  fanatic  dis- 
cord have  disturbed  the  social  elements  of  her  quiet 
ways. 


22  THE  SPIKIT-LIFE  OF 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  law  of  affinity  has  worked  through  every  gene- 
ration ;  the  mind  has  affinitized  with  the  element  of 
success  through  every  stage  of  harmonial  design.  The 
law  of  affinity  has  never  been  brought  to  bear  on  the 
conflicting  elements  that  fashion  the  creed-bound  world  ; 
all  harmonious  feeling  has  been  disregarded ;  the  mind 
has  been  coerced  by  dogmatic  fancies  ;  literal  destruc- 
tion, partial  destruction,  and  God's  sustaining  grace, 
held  forth  for  all  to  taste  that  willed,  on  the  condition 
of  church-security  from  the  temptations  of  Satan,  who 
was  laboring  to  establish  an  institution  that  would  run 
parallel  with  God's  seat  of  glory.  I  often  thought, 
while  traveling  my  round  of  earthly  duties,  that  the 
true  and  honest  piety  of  heart  was  found  in  the  by-ways 
of  poverty.  I  have  seen  many  a  true  soul  struggling 
away  from  the  Tempter,  —  struggling  to  maintain  the 
outward  respectability  to  harmonize  with  the  interior 
integrity  of  purpose  ;  and  I  say,  "  Of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  Such  have  wrought  out  their  seat 
of  honor  by  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of  Christ ;  such  are 
ready  to  enter  on  the  holy  mission  -of  soul-redemption 
from  the  bondage  of  sin  ;  and  such  are  ready  to  lend  a 
sustaining  hand  of  help  to  those  of  weaker  spiritual  pur- 
poses in  life.  God's  sustaining  arm  of  progressive  law 
hoists  a  flag  of  success  for  every  individual.  The  mean- 
dering finger  of  Time  works  us  through  the  earth-expe- 
rience with  vigilant  dexterity,  that  notes  every  bar  let 
down  that  lends  a  chance  of  egress  to  the  enemy  of 


THEODORE  PARKER.  23 

success.  The  last  few  years  of  my  earth-experience 
are  fraught  with  sadness.  My  soul  starts  back  on  its 
retrograde  movement  to  patch  up  the  deformities  that 
stand  out  apparent  and  bold,  unprotected  by  earth's 
sophistries ;  that  cover  up  rather  than  eradicate  the  er- 
rors born  in  her  vineyard.  My  ministerial  career  in 
Boston  binds  me  to  that  locality  with  unerring  precision 
of  movement.  I  started  to  do  a  work  there  that  the 
hand  of  Time  cut  short.  My  friends  tried  their  utmost 
skill  of  purse,  advice,  counsel,  and  every  free  gift  of 
heart-and-mind  dictation  to  keep  me  with  them  in  form 
while  I  promulgated  the  seeds  their  hungry  souls  thirsted 
for.  Their  realms  of  thought  were  expanding  under 
the  homoeopathic  doses  of  liberal  food  distilled  from 
nature  and  from  humanity  at  large.  They  were  not 
contented  to  sit  under  their  own  vine  and  fig-tree  as 
long  as  it  sprouted  errors  that  reason  held  unprofitable. 
I  well  remember  hearing  Rufus  Choate  expound  the 
science  of  religion.  He  was  an  able  exponent  in  finan- 
cial and  political  matters  ;  but  Theology  stood  her  ground 
with  him.  His  basis  of  salvation  was  the  atoning  blood 
of  Christ ;  but  methinks,  when  Rufus  Choate  found  him- 
self winged  for  his  spiritual  platform,  that  the  wide  dif- 
fusion of  Christ's  blood  never  entered  into  his  compact 
of  salvation.  The  reason  of  my  introducing  Rufus 
Choate  here  at  this  time  and  in  this  place  is  to  ex- 
pound a  little  on  the  ideas  he  put  forth  in  the  article 
above  mentioned.  The  great  orator,  gifted  as  few  are 
with  eloquence  that  burned  into  the  soul,  left  his  lever 
of  strength  unsheathed  and  folded  away.  Rufus  Choate, 
in  spirit-realms,  is  searching  deep  and  wide  for  the  im- 
perishable grains  that  he  will  drop  on  earth  in  due  time. 


24  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

The  wily  chief  that  darkens  the  doorway  of  faith  must 
soon  loose  his  dexterous  skill :  he  has  too  long  held  the 
reins  in  governmental  power,  wherein  the  inner  life  of 
man  is  concerned.  The  science  of  religion,  to  the  mind 
of  Rufus  Choate,  appeared  in  tracing  the  bare  outlines 
of  man's  historic  career  set  forth  in  Holy  Writ.  Had 
he  taken  as  deep  a  research  in  theology  as  he  did  in 
law,  he  would  have  culled  his  science  from  a  broader 
field.  Now,  the  science  laid  doAvn  in  ancient  history, 
and  promulgated  as  the  basis-ground  for  truth,  has  no 
more  to  do  with  the  true  religion  —  the  religion  of 
Christ's  deeds  of  love  —  than  it  has  in  carrying  us  the 
overland  route  to  California  or  Kamtschatka  Isle,  or  any 
other  remote  region.  It  would  seem  more  like  a  bar 
put  up  to  impede  our  progress  in  the  right  channel. 
That  book  of  saving  grace  is  filled  with  scattered  relics 
of  pagan  industry,  compiled  without  regard  to  system, 
forethought,  or  knowledge ;  and  still  it  answers  for  a 
basis-ground  of  hope  for  the  salvation  of  the  whole  hu- 
man family,  or  the  basis-ground  of  destruction  for  as 
many  as  do  not  subscribe  to  creeds. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SINCE  I  have  been  an  inhabitant  of  the  spirit-world, 
I  have  sought  no  discussi ve  ground  in  a  way  that  peo- 
ple fully  understood  my  power  and  ability  to  deal  with 
the  errors  of  theology  to  an  extent  that  earth  never 
gave  me.  Now  I  propose  to  build  up  a  fortress  of 


THEODORE  PARKER.  25 

strength,  and  pick  my  way  through  every  department 
of  theology.  I  propose  to  keep  reason  uppermost 
in  the  chase  after  truth.  I  propose  to  discuss  the 
science  of  religion  in  a^way,  that  every  shade  of  basis- 
ground  will  disappear  from  ancient  history,  and  take 
lodgement  in  the  under-current  of  Christ's  teachings. 
When  Herodotus  pushed  his  vigilant  war  thiough  the 
Egyptian  temples  of  hideous  errors,  he  was  only  laying 
waste  the  bulwarks  that  sustained  the  festering  rubbish 
of  knight-errantry  and  the  kingly  power  of  ignorant 
assumption.  Herodotus,  in  bringing  the  Egyptians  to 
acknowledge  his  power,  opened  an  avenue  for  the  light 
of  Christianity.  Lycurgus  was  another  heathen  ex- 
plorer, that  delved  deep  in  fanaticism,  picked  his  way 
through  the  cruelties  of  an  Egyptian  court,  and  came 
forth  purified  as  a  brand  from  the  burning.  Every 
age  has  had  its  monument  of  strength  in  the  heart 
and  purity  of  purpose  in  some  individual,  who  puts 
up  the  bar  of  progress  at  every  stage  of  advancement 
the  world  takes  on.  The  old  heathen  philosophers 
swept  their  boards  clear  of  any  stucco  or  varnish  of 
liberal  sentiment.  They  believed  in  the  holy  wrath  of 
God's  imperishable  wisdom,  manifested  in  his  instru- 
ments of  humanity.  Heathen  philosophers  were  averse 
to  any  code  of  liberal  teachings.  Their  intolerance  and 
ignorant  superstition  barred  up  all  avenues  from  the 
light  of  Christian  duty  manifested  toward  each  other. 
Their  fire-gods  and  corrupt  fetich  of  barbaric  splendor, 
served  their  coarse  and  uncultured  minds.  They  sup- 
posed, in  serving  graven  images  likened  to  the  God- 
head, —  whose  superhuman  skill  at  concealment  they 
could  not  fathom,  —  they  were  building  a  power  on 


26  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE   OF 

earth  that  God  would  recognize  with  great  pleasure. 
Barbarity,  in  any  form,  has  no  part  in  the  Christian 
religion.  It  had  its  birth-hour  when  mind  was  steeped 
in  the  gross  material  of  earth ;  when  the  soul  was 
thought  to  take  form  in  some  planet,  and  the  ruling 
spirit  that  assumed  the  greatest  range  of  cruelty  and 
power  was  expected  to  come  forth  from  the  second 
birth  a  representation  of  the  higher  constellations ;  and 
thus  you  see. the  basis-ground  for  salvation  to  the  hea- 
then world  was  distinctive  merit  in  cruelty.  The  starry 
pillar  of  truth  was  too  far  in  the  advance  for  their  mud- 
dled vision  to  control.  Lycurgus  made  way  for  the  reign 
of  Caesar,  the  world-renowned  conqueror,  with  the  stamp 
of  humanity  underlying  all  his  victories.  The  life  of 
Cffisar  is  an  illustrated  boon  of  strength  to  the  world  ; 
his  fortitude,  perseverance,  and  courage  to  maintain  the 
supremacy  of  power,  and  foster  in  its  midst  the  spirit  of 
Christ.  That  increeping  spirit  of  the  loving  Jesus  has 
gathered  new  sprigs  of  worth  to  gladden  the  heart  of 
every  advance  stage  in  knowledge.  That  is  the  basis- 
ground  that  has  reared  success,  and  the  basis-ground 
that  will  maintain  success  throughout  all  time  and  eter- 
nity. Let  me  here  enlarge  upon  that  principle  in  hu- 
manity, because  that  is  what  will  constitute  our  heaven, 
whether  on  the  earth-plane,  or  when  earth  shall  have 
yielded  up  the  true  man  to  the  infinite  seat  of  progress. 
What  is  there  in  the  whole  life  of  Jesus  but  love,  mani- 
fested through  eveiy  channel  wherein  he  had  a  purpose 
to  aid  humanity  ?  He  never  stopped  for  motives.  The 
fervid  outgushes  of  love  ever  impelled  his  movements  ; 
his  words  of  chastisement  were  ever  given  with  a  basis 
of  love  to  further  their  import.  Both  Jew  and  Gentile 


THEODORE  PARKER.  27 

were  served  alike  from  his  storehouse  of  love.  He  spread 
his  table  alike  for  all  that  came  within  his  knowledge  of 
research.  It  was  no  flimsy  coating  to  disguise  a  bitter 
pill,  but  a  free  gift  from  a  heart  overflowing  with  kind- 
ness. His  self-abnegating  spirit  made  success  over 
temptation  an  easy  matter.  The  power  of  the  destroy- 
ing angel  had  no  charms  for  him.  He  was  incased  in 
the  armor  of  holy  purposes.  He  meant  his  life  should 
be  an  example  to  the  world  in  which  he  lived.  He  in- 
herited his  meek  and  loving  spirit  from  his  mother 
Mary,  and  his  intrepid  daring  from  his  father  Joseph. 
His  power  to  perform  miracles  was  his  mediumistic 
worth.  Spirits  ever  found  him  accessible.  He  was  so 
imbued  with  the  attributes  of  the  higher  life,  that  his 
guardian  spirits  impressed  his  whole  being  with  his 
holy  mission  to  humanity.  He  lived  in  the  two  worlds. 
Death  had  no  victory  over  him.  The  higher  life  was 
his  home,  and  death  the  doorway  through  which  he 
must  pass.  That  knowledge,  taken  to  the  heart  and 
soul  as  Jesus  took  it  in,  would  bless  humanity  with  di- 
vine purposes  to  each  other.  We  are  not  so  unlike 
Jesus  as  we  suppose.  We  have  the  crustations  of  self- 
ishness to  contend  with  which  Jesus  did  not  possess ; 
and  we  have  the  illiberal  sentiments  of  ghastly  theology 
that  dares  to  pick  places  in  the  vast  storehouse  of  eter- 
nity, where  some  must  wrestle  with  destruction,  and 
cry  out  for  the  God  of  Israel  to  have  compassion  on 
their  souls,  with  no  answering  response  from  a  God  who 
immolates  his  Son  on  the  shrine  of  affection  for  hu- 
manity. Jesus  had  no  such  theology  to  contend  with. 
His  disciples  and  followers  were  ignorant  of  creeds.  If 
Jesus  was  the  true  Messiah,  they  were  all  willing  to  ac- 


28  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OP 

cept  him ;  were  willing  to  give  up  their  burnt-offerings 
and  sacrificial  altars,  and  accept  Christ  as  their  light.  All 
they  asked  was  assurance  of  his  genuineness  to  serve 
them.  They  had  no  bottled-up  portions  of  excellence 
that  clamored  for  upper  seats  in  God's  kingdom,  with 
egotistical  assurance  of  superior  merit.  Those  olden 
times  had  the  merit  of  simplicity  of  heart.  What  they 
lacked  in  culture  and  refinement  they  showed  forth  in 
courage  and  zeal  to  maintain  some  fortress  of  strength 
for  future  use. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

IN  the  crucifixion  of  Christ,  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
allegorical  matter,  —  a  great  deal  of  the  spurious  mixed 
with  the  true.  His  advent  into  life  was  no  miraculous 
interposition  of  Providence  ;  it  was  merely  the  process 
of  natural  law,  through  which  he  became  manifest  to  the 
world  :  and  his  exit  from  earth  followed  on  his  failing  to 
meet  the  demand  of  the  ignorant  classes  that  he  had  to 
deal  with.  His  ascension  was  no  physical  flight,  but  a 
soul-redemption  from  sin,  but  portrayed  in  the  figurative 
language  of  flesh  and  blood.  It  does  seem  as  though 
the  nineteenth  century  should  be  above  the  supposition 
of  crude  ^materiality  entering  the  precincts  of  heaven. 
There  is  no  law  to  sustain  matter  above  the  confines  of 
earth.  Christ  died,  was  buried ;  and  his  redeemed  spirit 
went  on  its  mission  to  fathom  the  world  that  was  already 
familiar  to  him  by  his  pure  and  unassuming  earth-life. 
Christ's  element  of  success  was  recognized  more  after 


THEODORE  PARKER.  29 

his  departure  from  earth.  That  spirit  of  meek  forbear- 
ance troubled  the  hearts  of  his  disciples :  they  began  to 
realize  his  worth,  and  miss  the  charm  of  his  presence ; 
and  would,  no  doubt,  have  recalled  him,  could  such  have 
been.  But  the  death  of  Christ  at  that  time  was  auspi- 
cious for  the  world's  improvement :  his  holy  spirit  sur- 
mounts every  difficulty  that  bars  the  road  to  progress. 
Christ  is  the  illuminated  page  that  will  ever  be  read  to 
advantage.  The  history  of  Christ  is  the  history  of  a 
redeemed  spirit  on  earth,  —  the  history  of  all  pure  and 
holy  purposes  embodied  in  earth-form.  As  an  example 
of  purity,  power,  and  self-abnegation,  Christ  has  never 
been  excelled;  and,  though  ages  may  roll  along  the 
track  of  time,  there  may  not  be  another  such  combina- 
tion of  holy  assurance  given  to  humanity.  There  is  a 
spell  around  his  name  that  will  ever  lend  its  influence 
around  society.  Let  Christ  be  man  or  angel,  it  matters 
not :  he  has  been  the  sustaining  strength  in  every  reform 
since  Calvary  reared  her  ebon  cross  to  stain  the  charac- 
ter of  her  written  testimony.  The  Jewish  nation  la- 
bored to  establish  a  broader  basis  of  salvation  for  the 
human  family.  Christ  seemed  inefficient  to  them  as  a 
Saviour  and  Redeemer :  they  sought  an  embodiment  of 
external  power.  They  could  not  appreciate  the  indwell- 
ing Spirit  of  saving  grace  :  the  external  world  was  all 
they  could  fathom  to  secure  support  to  their  upward 
career  of  worldly  achievements.  Power  to  them  was 
distinctive  glory  in  heaven ;  and,  as  Christ  assumed  no 
wordly  distinction  or  honors,  they  thought  him  an  inter- 
loper, not  capable  of  serving  them :  therefore  they  sought 
and  obtained  his  overthrow.  And,  to  this  day,  the 
Jewish  nation  remains  unreconciled  to  any  plan  of  sal- 


30  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

vation  :  they  are  wanderers  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
seeking  the  divine  afflatus  still,  but  with  something  of 
the  old  stoicism,  that  power  rules  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven.  The  Jews  have  fought  dry  their  well-springs 
of  success  ;  their  shattered  glory  is  the  Rubicon  of  error 
over  which  they  have  passed.  The  Jews  are  merging 
toward  extinction  ;  their  holocaust  of  strength  is  nearly 
expended ;  there  is  no  harmonious  element  to  keep 
peace  in  their  souls  ;  the  dewdrops  of  the  harmonial 
law  has  never  entered  their  inner  lives.  The  Jewish 
nation  will  one  day  become  but  a  ripple  on  the  great 
ocean  of  time,  and  eternity  will  have  caught  the  waif- 
lings  to  the  utter  disregard  of  human  will  or  power. 
Eternity  lays  its  fangs  of  strength  on  all  of  earth's  pos- 
sessions, from  the  tiniest  flower  to  the  wide  range  of 

*  O 

upheaved  mountain  skill.  All  Nature  has  its  part  in 
the  resurrection  morn  of  ethereal  grandeur  and  syste- 
matic beauty;  all  Nature  drinks  from  the  fountain  of  the 
unseen  ;  her  spiral  points  pierce  the  elements  of  success 
to  sustain  her  unwearied  efforts  at  perfection.  Nature 
goes  on  in  successive  routine  :  it  fashions  and  builds  for 
God's  storehouse  of  eternity. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  widest  range  of  thought  is  sure  to  quench  its 
thirst  at  every  passing  stream ;  gathering  new  forces  and 
beauty  for  its  detail  of  encounters  from  one  stage  of  life 
to  another.  Man  little  realizes  on  earth  the  power  given 


THEODORE  PARKER.  31 

the  mind  for  expansion :  it  doubles  its  growth  at  every 
sweep  in  the  great  ocean  of  eternity.  Were  I  to  say 
here  the  mind  of  man  possesses  the  innate  seeds,  or,  in 
other  words,  the  culminating  particles,  to  rear  a  world. 
I  should  no  doubt  be  deemed  insane  ;  but,  nevertheless, 
the  hand  of  science  will  yet  demonstrate  the  fact  to  the 
world.  I  ask,  what  has  reared  the  world  to-day  from 
chaotic  sameness  to  its  present  point  of  interest  and 
beauty,  but  the  mind  of  man  ?  But  some  will  say, 
man  has  only  brought  out  and  fashioned  what  was 
in  the  beginning.  Allowing  that  to  be  so,  allowing 
the  world  to  be  a  crucible  where  man  is  experiment- 
ing, does  it  not  show  conclusively  that  mind  will 
never  stop  picking  in  matter  until  her  eveiy  recepta- 
cle that  contains  a  seed  to  sprout  and  grow  is  laid 
open  for  investigation  ?  And  who  shall  say  mind  can 
not  create  when  it  understands  the  process  of  creation  ? 
There  is  no  cheat  in  God's  law  of  development :  it  is 
systematic  process  from  beginning  to  end.  There  are 
no  lost  keys  to  any  drawer  of  the  material  universe, 
and  each  mind  can  and  will  unlock  its  own  particular 
drawer.  It  is  not  always  easy  or  best  to  unlock  the 
future  before  time,  or  promulgate  undue  circumstances  ; 
but  I  must  throw  out  this  fact  here,  that  time  will  clothe 
with  truth,  that,  in  less  than  a  century  of  time,  the  mind 
of  man  will  cope  with  the  external  forces  to  create  a 
world.  It  is  no  more  than  mind  in  eternity,  or  mind 
disembodied  from  matter,  is  capable  of  doing  at  the 
present  time.  My  life-history  will  reveal  facts  instead 
of  fables.  It  will  be  no  revelation  clothed  in  mystery 
for  mind  to  wander  around,  and  become  fogged  in  its 
attempts  to  extricate  a  few  grains  of  truth  that  reason 


32  THE   SPIKIT-LIFE  OF 

will  find,  however  deep  the  rubbish.  At  the  present 
day,  spirit-communion  is  no  concealed  fact.  It  is  an 
ushering-in  of  the  New  Jerusalem ;  the  time  earnestly 
looked  for  in  every  generation  ;  the  glad  tidings  of  great 
joy  come  to  bless  the  world  in  its  spring-time  of  social 
and  moral  elevation.  It  sprouted  in  the  midst  of  refine- 
ment and  wealth ;  and  it  will  accumulate  strength  to 
maintain  its  support,  until  every  locality  in  the  universe 
of  matter  is  sprinkled  with  its  divine  afflatus  of  truth 
and  love. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  more  I  attempt  to  harness  on  my  earth-life,  the 
more  barrenness  I  discover  in  fields  that  should  have 
grown  ripe  to  my  advantage  ;  and,  but  for  that  old 
theological  atmosphere  of  oppression,  I  would  be  wan- 
dering in  fields  where  now  I  only  catch  the  shadowed 
light.  I  will  refer  to  my  spiritual  growth  from  1854  to 
1859,  shadowed  as  it  was  by  the  conflicting  elements 
of  time.  1854  found  me  verging  toward  a  social  re- 
form ;  or,  in  other  words,  seeking  to  instill  the  need 
of  rendering  the  social  element  into  the  folds  of  the 
Christian  Church.  It  was  like  a  galvanic  battery  to  the 
lunatics  in  an  insane  asylum.  It  touched  every  fiber 
of  the  world's  holy  horror  of  mixing  up  any  thing  with 
religion  but  burnt-offerings  in  the  shape  of  special 
prayer-meetings,  special  days  of  worship,  and  special 
demagogues  or  prelates  to  keep  sacred  their  fold  of 
contracted  sentiment  and  pent-up  selfishness.  Those 


THEODORE  PARKER.  33 

days  to  me  were  fraught  with  bitterness  of  spirit.  I 
could  not  brook  the  many  insults  offered  me,  without 
sinking  some  of  the  wormwood  and  gall  into  my  own 
secret  caverns  of  thought.  I  well  remember  the  anathe- 
mas raised  against  me ;  well  remember  the  sounding 
clarion  of  public  animosity  and  hatred  that  warbled 
forth  its  discordant  notes  throughout  my  field  of  action. 
I  could  not  labor  to  advantage  in  the  frozen  atmosphere 
of  undulating  sentiment.  It  paralyzed  the  life-blood  of 
hope,  and  chilled  the  impetuosity  of  my  movements 
toward  sustaining  my  platform  of  truth  toward  hu- 
manity. Were  I  to  step  back,  clothed  with  the  habili- 
ments of  earth,  or  to  step  back  to  that  point  in  my  life 
where  I  wrestled  with,  uncertainty  in  regard  to  the 
soul's  ultimate  success  over  time  and  eternity,  I  could 
meet  the  exigencies  of  doubt  from  ten  thousand  worlds, 
and  find  myself  buoyant  in  maintaining  the  platform  I 
started  on  in  1854.  The  past  can  never  be  bridged 
over  nor  walled  up  :  it  will  ever  remain  a  thread  in  the 
great  web  of  life,  a  reference-mark,  keeping  our  time 
and  place  in  eternity.  My  past  life  is  one  of  the  dis- 
tinctive elements  that  holds  me  to  the  present  and 
future.  You  can  no  more  get  away  from  the  past  than 
you  can  from  the  future  :  they  are  the  two  diverging 
lines  in  life,  —  the  one  impelling  us  forward,  the  other 
holding  our  march  by  the  law  of  recompense  that  never 
fails  in  its  duty  toward  the  children  of  earth.  In  start- 
ing on  a  tour  of  investigation,  we  should  have  our  lamps 
trimmed  and  burning.  We  should  delve  as  far  into  the 
future  as  we  can  with  benefit  to  our  reason  ;  and,  in 
fact,  we  can  not  sink  logic  deeper  than  reason  will  hold 

true.     Our  reason  is   our  safeguard,  our  monitor  of 
2 


34  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OP 

strength,  our  impelling  force  to  action.  Therefore, 
when  we  would  have  facts  instead  of  fables,  let  rea- 
son hold  the  light  to  guide  the  way  to  knowledge.  My 
early  years  of  earth-experience  were  fool-hardy  with 
expectations  of  a  successful  career  through  life.  That 
was  before  I  had  weighed  the  public  mind  by  any  scales 
but  hope,  youth  is  ever  imaginative,  ever  building  airy 
castles  to  crumble  at  the  breath  of  public  disfavor.  My 
life  was  even-handed  as  far  as  I  could  make  it  by  steady 
application  to  study,  and  a  determination  to  overcome 
the  prejudice  and  fanatic  discord  which  came  within  the 
scope  of  my  experience.  My  whole  earth-career  was 
simply  a  trial  adventure,  —  a  breaker  put  forth  to  battle 
with  the  storms  and  quicksands  on  the  rolling  sea  of 
life.  That  I  did  not  fill  my  measure  to  completeness 
in  earth's  diluted  beverages  of  wisdom  is  now  fully 
apparent  to  me  ;  and,  if  that  sentence  can  have  any 
weight  to  the  gleaners  in  earth's  vineyards,  it  will  not 
have  been  uttered  in  vain.  When  people  start  out  on 
a  platform  to  evangelize  society,  they  will  ever  find 
themselves  rowing  against  the  current ;  will  find  life 
spicy  and  full  of  acrimony  ;  find  themselves  a  disturbing 
element  in  the  slough-pools  of  indolent  ease,  and  war- 
ring with  the  spirit  of  rest  to  the  world's  discomfort,  and 
to  the  world's  dread  of  being  found  wanting  in  the 
essential  elements  to  success.  I  do  not  regret  my  earth- 
experiences  :  they  were  all  needed  for  my  purposes  of 
action  ;  all  held  out  their  hand  of  help  to  aid  in  the 
great  battle  of  life.  Through  trials  and  tribulations,  the 
soul  radiates  to  glory,  and  also  radiates  to  the  true 
worth  in  humanity.  I  have  friends  in  Boston  and 
vicinity  that  I  visit  daily :  the  cord  of  love  and  friend- 


THEODORE  PARKER.  35 

sliip  has  never  been  severed ;  its  binding  influence 
cheers  my  onward  march.  Boston  is  the  acme  of 
earth's  soluble  friendships :  it  reared  my  Christian 
growth,  and  supported  my  lagging  energies  when  public 
disfavor  trampled  me  with  its  heel  of  vengeance.  There 
are  many  hearts  in  Boston  that  throw  out  their  silver 
linings  for  me  to  catch  the  reflected  purity  of  their 
souls.  In  wafting  my  thoughts  backward,  I  seem  to 
catch  the  welcome  glance  of  friendship,  and  the  prof- 
fered hand  of  love  ;  I  seem  to  hear  the  whispered  fare- 
well at  my  departure  for  the  sunny  isle  that  gave  me 
rest  from  suffering  beneath  her  cool  and  sunny  skies. 
When  I  take  up  my  backward  track,  there  is  ever  an 
impetus  to  cheer  the  local  habitations  of  earth's  children 
with  the  effulgent  rays  of  spirit-communion.  I  can  not 
rest  me  quiet  in  my  spirit-home.  I  must  seek  to  dispel 
illusory  customs  of  earth  ;  seek  an  entrance  into  the 
fields  of  theology,  and  brave  again  the  contumacious 
doubting  of  the  world.  My  seed-time  and  harvest  is 
not  completed  on  earth  ;  I  have  only  set  my  stakes, 
and  measured  out  my  ground  for  the  present,  and  am 
awaiting  the  weather-sweep  of  time  to  make  favorable 
the  conditions  for  sprouting  the  seeds  which  I  shall 
promulgate  on  earth.  When  Herodotus  warred  in 
the  Egyptian  temples  of  fame,  he  spilled  the  Cartha- 
ginian blood  of  ancestral  bigotry  and  fanaticism.  He 
warred  with  precepts  and  principles ;  he  warred  with 
the  illiberal  sentiments  of  ghastly  theology ;  he  warred 
with  the  hideous  daring  of  Grecian  autocrats,  who 
shuffled  all  responsibility  into  the  church  militant, 
which  was  the  cesspool  through  which  all  found  a 
passage  leading  to  life  eternal.  Since  Herodotus' 


36  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

reign,  the  camp-fires  of  a  more  liberal  sentiment  have 
lighted  up  every  period  in  the  cycle  of  time.  Hero- 
dotus was  a  Grecian  king,  a  stipulator  for  the  am- 
nesty of  power  through  the  channel  of  the  operative 
law  of  social  reformation.  Every  age  has  had  its  by- 
play to  foster  the  element  of  progress  ;  every  age  has 
suited  the  action  to  the  word  of  renovation  ;  every  move 
has  been  forward  march  in  the  line  of  battalion  array. 
The  pickets  on  duty  have  warned  us  of  every  approach 
on  the  enemy's  quarters.  And  those  guards  on  duty 
clearly  discover  the  lion  at  bay  by  the  howling  demand 
of  the  successful  monster  that  ever  tramples  what  it 
means  to  destroy.  Let  me  again  refer  to  the  science 
of  religion.  Let  me  take  up  the  life-history  of  religion, 
its  time,  place,  and  culture,  its  advent  into  the  Avorld, 
and  its  exit  therefrom,  without  a  thread  left  in  the  old 
loom  of  ancient  mythology.  Religion  is  based  on  God's 
law  of  harmony :  its  fundamental  precepts  are  love, 
hope,  and  trust ;  its  organized  institutions  should  be  an 
even-handed  justice  spread  broadcast  throughout  hu- 
manity, and  a  friendship  made  soluble  by  deeds  done  in 
times  of  need.  Earth  should  hold  no  religion,  only 
what  comports  with  the  highest  attributes  of  man's 
instinctive  nature.  All  other  is  froth  on  the  surface  of 
human  wants  ;  all  other  is  a  needless  expenditure  of 
time  and  money,  as  far  as  fostering  the  true  seeds 
of  worship  are  concerned  ;  and  all  other  is  the  harbin- 
ger of  the  coming  wind,  that  will  sweep  the  chaff  from 
its  seat  of  honor.  The  science  of  religion  is  the  master- 
key  that  will  unlock  the  fountain  that  has  too  long  been 
choked  by  the  accumulated  rubbish  of  all  ages  of  time ; 


THEODOEE  PARKER.  37 

and  the  clear  and  purling  stream  of  silvery  love  and 
friendship  will  flow  from  the  old  despotic  fountain  of 
selfish  inhannony  and  strife. 


CHAPTER  X. 

RELIGION  is  a  want  to  the  human  mind  ;  it  is  a  neces- 
sity to  the  soul,  a  peace-offering  from  God  to  man ;  it 
is  a  sentiment  that  needs  the  fostering  hand  of  love  to 
keep  green.  Religion  sprang  up  in  the  dark  ages,  when 
the  soul  craved  food  to  sustain  its  highest  functions  of 
being ;  when  no  power  but  God's,  speaking  through  the 
essential  element  of  humanity,  could  stay  around  the 
benighted  hearthstone  of  darkened  mythology.  God 
speaking  in  his  thunderbolts  of  terror  was  losing  its 
charm.  There  was  a  congenial  softening  of  heart  grow- 
ing out  of  the  long-continued  rasping  and  warfare  :  it 
flooded  its  own  spirit,  and  gave  birth  to  a  new  type  of 
questionable  religion,  or  questionable  theology,  because 
religion  and  theology  are  two  distinctive  elements  in  so- 
ciety, —  the  one  harnesses  up  a  team  for  show,  the  other 
picks  its  way  on  foot,  if  need  be,  but  still  intent  on  find- 
ing out  the  needs  of  humanity.  Religion  is  an  under- 
current that  moves  along  with  the  tide  of  fashion ;  and 
when  fashion  sickens,  as  is  ofttimes  the  case,  religion  holds 
out  her  panacea  of  strength  to  grasp  the  sickened  soul 
into  her  haven  of  rest.  Religion  is  the  fundamental 
earthquake  that  will  upheave  and  demolish  every  type 
of  spurious  metal  the  world  takes  on  as  a  harness  of  sal- 


38  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

vation.  The  advent  of  the  Christian  religion,  or  what  is 
termed  the  Christian  era,  is  a  marked  period  in  the 
world's  history :  it  fashioned  its  growth  after  the  hidden 
teachings  of  Christ ;  it  has  run  parallel  with  ancient 
history  since  ancient  history  assumed  the  power  to  save 
mankind.  Religion  has  a  sway  entirely  its  own  ;  it 
never  builds  from  any  particular  style  ;  its  principles  of 
structure  are  firmly  rooted,  branching  ever  in  the  direc- 
tion of  use  ;  taking  up  life  as  best  it  may,  still  intent 
in  serving  for  the  highest  good,  aiming  always  to 
.'upplant  evil  by  sowing  the  good  seed  of  loving-kind- 
ness that  will  root  where  illiberal  dealings  can  find  no  en- 
trance. Religion  strips  herself  clear  of  any  outward  show 
or  manifestation  of  egotism ;  she  never  takes  more  than 
her  clue  of  credit  for  favors  bestowed  ;  she  asks  no  high 
tariff  of  the  world's  applause ;  she  simply  asks  the  priv- 
ilege of  showing  her  skill  at  renovation,  at  tearing  down 
pillars  of  show,  and  erecting  structures  of  strength  to 
meet  the  demand  of  human  wants.  Religion  is  a  true 
financier,  delving  in  the  cesspools  of  political  warfare, 
and  toning  up  the  moral  functions  of  the  parties  in 
power.  Religion  is  destined  to  sweep  the  board  of  pub- 
lic welfare  of  all  the  rubbish  of  false  pretense  and  all 
false  stars  that  shine  to  no  purpose  in  life.  Religious 
culture  is  the  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tidal  waves  of  cur- 
rent events  that  fashion  the  world  we  live  in  ;  religious 
culture  would  string  our  lives  with  pearls  did  we  but 
let  go  of  self  long  enough  to  grasp  the  true  essence  of 
her  mission.  She  can  not  feed  us  with  the  true  light  of 
revelation  until  we  open  our  hearts  to  receive  the  light 
from  her  many-hued  tapers  that  are  spread  broadcast 
and  free.  There  is  no  tax  to  be  paid  on  our  gleanings 


THEODOEE  PAEKEB.  39 

in  religious  culture  :  we  can  take  all  we  can  digest  with- 

O  *  ™ 

out  fear  of  its  hurting  our  digestive  functions.  It  is  a 
harmless  remedy  for  all  the  ills  of  life ;  it  clears  our 
pathway  of  all  false  rubbish,  of  all  graven  images,  sprouted 
for  no  use  to  the  soul's  salvation,  but  a  lumbering  car 
filled  with  weapons  of  destruction  to  slay  our  peace  and 
comfort.  Religion  grasps  our  true  life  ;  it  sprouts  no 
other  for  us  to  cling  to  ;  it  radiates  around  no  false  pre- 
cepts or  examples  ;  it  tunes  its  harp  for  the  great  choir 
of  humanity.  Religion  has  set  its  seal  of  contempt  on 
all  false  doctrines  that  soothe  us  to  slumber  over  an 
abyss  of  doubt  and  uncertainty.  No  false  coloring  suits 
the  majestic  grandeur  of  her  quiet  ways  ;  she  feels  no 
impulse  for  a  life  of  double  dealing ;  she  sips  the  nectar 
of  truth  from  God's  vast  arena  of  nature,  and  fills  every 
heart  that  is  open  to  receive  the  free  and  proffered  gift. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

NOTHING  can  so  suit  the  heart  of  humanity,  nothing 
can  so  delve  around  all  selfishness,  nothing  so  pick  its 
way  to  the  spirit  of  unrest,  as  the  true  and  shining 
light  of  religion.  It  garners  its  stores  with  always  a 
door  left  open  for  the  wayfarer  who  is  being  pelted  by 
the  storms  of  adversity.  Christ  was  a  religious  man 
from  intuition.  His  spirit  sought  the  wants  of  human 
nature  ;  he  affinitized  with  the  highest  element  in  hu- 
manity ;  he  ever  sought  the  world's  vortex  of  confiding 
trust,  in  the  highest  means  to  serve  the  greatest  good. 
Christ  left  his  spirit  of  religion  to  bless  the  world ;  he 


40  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

left  his  footprints  of  princely  daring  and  virtues  to  guide 
the  stranded  ones  of  earth  to  their  haven  of  safety.  There 
never  has  been  a  light  in  the  world  that  has  shone  so 
radiantly,  lighting  up  all  the  by-ways,  sending  its  halo 
of  glory  into  all  desolate  places,  and  weaving  its  web  of 
royal  brightness  to  hang  over  the  earth  in  her  times 
of  moral  darkness.  The  religion  of  Christ  was  heart- 
felt, and  realized  as  his  sustaining  strength  when  earth 
threw  her  mantle  of  trouble  around  him.  Religion,  in 
the  abstract,  signifies  harmony  of  soul  with  the  divinity 
of  purpose ;  but  the  world  has  mixed  the  true  purpose 
of  religion  with  the  outward  show  of  mock  ceremony, 
until  one-half  of  the  minds  on  earth  to-day  never  dip 
deeper  than  the  customs  of  past  generations  for  succor 
to  maintain  the  soul.  What  but  the  light  of  revelation 
from  God's  storehouse  of  intuitive  reasoning  could  grasp 
this  unseen  lever  of  strength,  and  apply  it  for  the 
world's  improvement !  God  shines  forth  his  luminations 
of  truth  in  every  corner  of  the  world's  use.  The 
gradual  unfoldment  of  divine  purpose  creates  no  jar  in 
the  infinitude  of  mind  and  matter.  The  even  hand  of 
a  beneficent  Creator  smooths  all  the  rugged  places  by 
some  straying  ray  of  truth  let  loose  for  the  occasion.  Di- 
vinity shapes  our  course  most  unflinchingly.  It  is  no  ner- 
vous hand  that  grasps  the  rudder  of  our  destiny ;  it  is 
no  tremulous  wave  on  the  great  ocean  of  eternity  that 
moves  our  course  of  action.  We  were  not  dropped  here 
without  a  purpose  to  culminate,  without  the  power 
given  us  to  locate  our  destiny,  without  the  pickax  of 
accumulation  left  within  our  grasp.  God's  law  of  rec- 
ompense never  cheats  us  a  particle,  never  sifts  an  error 
in  our  path  but  what  Reason  could  pick  to  pieces  if  she 


THEODORE  PAEKEE.  41 

willed  to  do  so.  But  when  we  allow  reason  to  lay  dor- 
mant, and  let  out  the  job  of  thought  to  the  highest 
bidder  after  wordly  renown,  why  call  God  a  cheat, 
and  say  he  has  harnessed  our  team,  but  left  us  no  driv- 
er, when  it  is  plainly  evident  he  intends  us  to  be  our 
own  teamsters  along  the  road  of  life  ?  And  he  has  so 
fashioned  our  team,  that  it  has  the  capacity  for  expansion 
or  contraction ;  the  capacity  for  gaining  strength  by 
accumulation,  or  becoming  weakened  by  disease.  God 
ever  stares  us  in  the  face  with  our  mission  ;  ever  puts  up 
bars  for  us  to  climb  over  :  and,  if  we  fall  in  the  attempt 
to  master  the  difficulties  in  our  pathway,  the  right  hand 
of  fellowship  is  extended  from  the  spiritual  platform  to 
keep  good  our  efforts  at  success. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  harmonial  law  is  working  in  unison  with  the  law 
of  religious  culture.  There  is  sympathetic  emotion  be- 
tween the  two  elements  of  reform ;  they  are  starting 
out  on  a  tour  of  investigation,  with  the  determination 
to  assist  each  other  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  of 
priestly  triumph.  The  harmonial  law  is  destined  to 
become  the  law  of  success.  It  has  picked  its  way 
through  numberless  difficulties,  and  still  stems  the  cur- 
rent of  public  disfavor.  When  the  dynasties  of  Europe 
sought  the  overthrow  of  Charles  the  Second,  it  was  in 
accordance  with  the  primeval  teachings  of  the  ancestral 
line  of  successive  generations,  that  no  power  but  kingly 


42  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE   OP 

power,  manifested  in  the  gibbet,  in  racks  of  torture,  and 
in  the  guillotine,  or  scaffold  of  impious  sacrifice,  should 
claim  a  seat  at  their  national  board  of  honor ;  and 
hence  the  harmonious  outreach  of  principle  at  that  pe- 
riod was  allowed  no  footing.  But  subsequent  years 
have  fostered  the  germ  that  sprouted  when  earth  could 
not  contain  its  growth.  The  Babylonish  captivity  was 
a  more  ancient  onslaught  on  the  principle  of  harmoninl 
growth.  The  world  was  flooded  to  secure  that  harmony 
that  after-years  sought  to  overthrow.  The  Babylonish 
captivity  served  as  food  to  maintain  the  fierce  and  cruel 
system  through  which  the  world  was  then  passing ;  and 
yet,  in  this  nineteenth  century  of  moral  and  intellectual 
growth,  there  is  no  work  from  the  pen  of  any  inspired 
writer,  that  can  push  its  way  up  to  the  hearthstone  of 
every  nation  as  that  time-worn  book  of  fabled  mythol- 
ogy and  sanctified  cruelty.  The  Bible,  proclaimed  as 
the  word  of  God  from  every  pulpit  in  the  world,  bear- 
ing the  stamp  of  legalized  Christianity,  abounds  in 
atrocities  that  this  age  can  not  enact,  even  in  imagina- 
tion, without  a  shudder  and  a  creeping-away  of  soul 
from  the  pictured  scenes  of  ancient  history,  legalized  to 
the  world  as  God's  token  of  mercy  and  love.  I  wonder 
at  the  fashion  of  keeping  food  that  does  not  serve  our 
purpose  ;  of  passing  round  a  dish  that  all  partake  of,  but 
few  like  or  relish  :  but  I  find,  from  my  spiritual  locality, 
that  earth  is  creeping  away  from  the  trap  set  so  many 
years  ago,  and  sprung  at  every  footfall  of  progress, 
until  its  springs  are  becoming  old  and  rusty  from  decay. 
I  hold  no  reverence  for  a  system  of  laws  that  can  not 
withstand  the  picking  hand  of  Time,  and  remain  firm  in 
the  united  effort  at  success.  I  hold  no  reverence  for 


THEODORE  PARKER.  43 

a  theologian  who  climbs  the  hill  of  science,  and  sprouts 
no  new  themes  for  the  distilling  dews  of  admixture 
to  lift  from  the  rubbish  of  the  past.  I  hold  no  truth 
sacred,  or  beyond  cavil,  that  flinches  at  the  hand  of  in- 
vestigation. The  Old  World  garners  her  stores  of 
wealth  in  accordance  with  her  valuation  of  monopolized 
grandeur  and  kingly  assumption.  The  Old  World  is 
beating  her  bars  of  iron  will  against  any  invasion  of 
democratic  power.  The  master-spirit  of  ancient  chiv- 
alry finds  no  response  from  their  fattened  cloisters  of 
papal  glory.  England  masters  every  emotion  of  sym- 
pathetic daring  brought  to  her  knowledge ;  she  allows 
no  straying  sheep  from  her  fold  of  domineering  great- 
ness ;  she  folds  her  hands  with  the  utmost  complacency 
over  her  systems  of  oppression.  The  serfs  that  flood 
her  streets  are  a  libel  on  her  escutcheon  of  power  ;  she 
has  never'entered  into  compact  with  the  spirit  of  Christ ; 
the  herald  of  mercy  has  never  entered  her  door  of 
oppression,  that  is  closed  to  every  call  but  the  one 
of  moneyed  interest.  When  England  drives  a  more 
liberal  team  in  this  great  world  of  cause  and  effect,  she 
will  feel  the  ennobling  influences  that  wrought  out  free- 
dom on  the  American  continent.  The  world  is  filled 
with  oppressive  systems ;  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  blood  is 
the  master-key  that  binds  the  cord  of  stringent;  measures 
around  society.  The  Anglo-Saxon  fibers  that  consti- 
tute the  underpinning  of  American  society  are  sprouting 
their  helmet  o:~  strength  into  every  channel  of  arbitra- 
tion in  this  great  world  of  commerce  and  strife.  There 
\s  no  reason  why  America  should  not  pick  her  way  into 
every  department  of  human  zeal  and  courage.  America 
should  foster  no  feeling  of  supremacy,  but  should  set 


44  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

to  work  with  a  movement  of  soul  to  galvanize  the 
heathen  world  with  the  aroma  of  knowledge  and  free- 
dom. The  advantage  America  claims  over  all  other 
countries  is  due  to  her  liberal  platform  of  deal ;  is  ow- 
ing to  her  free  passports  of  strength,  that  slumber  a 
dead  weight  on  all  other  nationalities  in  the  world. 
While  I  maintained  my  earthly  tabernacle,  I  fought 
every  system  of  oppression,  I  warred  with  every  mon- 
ster that  reared  a  head  above  the  confines  of  public 
good.  I  have  never  changed  one  iota  in  my  sentiments 
with  regard  to  the  demon  of  oppression  in  any  form.  I 
still  hold  to  a  legalized  surrender  of  every  perch  that 
collects  the  fauna  of  society,  whether  that  perch  be  hid 
from  public  view,  or  flaunted  forth  in  genteel  society. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

WHEN  the  great  war  proclaims  the  world's  salvation 
from  the  law  of  ignorance,  then  will  the  evils  that  now 
surround  mankind  drop  apart,  and  light  will  shine 
through  the  darkened  temples  of  defamation.  There  is 
nothing  that  so  hampers  the  mind  as  distrust.  It  is  like 
a  darkened  veil  thrown  before  our  outward  vision,  im- 
peding our  progress,  and  making  us  stumblers  on  the 
highway  of  life.  It  is  a  true  saying,  that  "life  is  a 
thorny  road  to  travel ;  "  and  many  a  bramble  and  thorn 
will  spring  up  in  our  path  unless  we  cultivate  the  soil 
as  we  proceed  on  our  journey.  Life  is  one  long  illus- 
trated roadway ;  and  the  illustrations  are  pictures  in 


THEODORE  PARKER.  45 

allegory,  descriptive  of  our  inner  struggles  around  temp- 
tations that  beset  our  pathway.  Earth  is  man's  trial 
course  of  action.  We  may  beat  our  prison-doors  ever 
so  much ;  but,  until  the  hand  of  Fate  springs  the  lock, 
we  are  prisoners  on  the  course  of  time ;  anglers  around 
the  great  bait  of  eternity,  throwing  our  hook  into  ten 
thousand  pools,  to  find  it  nibbled  by  some  speculator  on 
•our  field  of  action.  There  is  nothing  so  worthy  of  in- 
vestigation as  God's  plan  of  salvation.  It  should  claim 
the  attention  of  every  sane  mind  on  earth  ;  it  should  be 
brought  to  the  door  of  every  child's  understanding, 
there  to  await  the  light  of  reason  to  lay  aside  every 
barrier  of  restraint.  The  world  has  too  long  sought 

O  O 

safety  from  destruction  in  her  Hellenic  authors  of  doubt- 
ful report.  She  should  have  a  cataplasm  or  antidote  of 
a  soothing  nature  after  this  purging  process  of  fire  and 
brimstone  that  has  lit  the  target  hurled  at  so  many  gen- 
erations, and  never  swept  the  board  of  any  of  the  evils 
it  sought  to  destroy.  I  must  say  here  and  now  that  I 
pity  any  mind  bound  to  any  theology  extant  in  the 
world,  with  no  loophole  of  egress  to  confront  the  enemy 
of  progress.  The  Sicilian  captive,  bound  with  the  fet- 
tering chains  of  anarchy,  was  no  more  a  captive  than 
the  stickler  to  one  code  of  worship,  one  code  of  laws, 
and  one  code  of  morals,  for  this  age  of  reasonable  out- 
growth from  dogmatic  prejudice  and  assumption.  What 
Hecletus  saw  on  the  Tower  of  Babel  puzzled  the  Greek 
philosopher.  He  wondered  at  the  idiosyncrasies  of  be- 
nighted Babylon  ;  he  wondered  at  the  deformities  of 
heathen  barbarity.  As  system  after  system  sweeps 
along  the  course  of  time,  the  liberal  hand  of  justice 
points  the  way  to  the  sunny  side  of  life.  Thermopylae 


46  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE   OF 

was  destroyed  to  suit  the  exigencies  of  power.  The  Old 
World  is  filled  with  its  sacrificial  altars,  its  crisp  and  dry 
rubbish,  that  makes  the  Past  seem  like  old  age  creeping 
along  in  its  dotage  to  overtake  the  gay  and  happy  child, 
who  springs  at  the  touch  of  the  myriads  of  keys  that 
unlock  its  bright  and  buoyant  soul.  The  Past  is  the 
stagnant  water  in  the  great  pool  of  life,  and  no  drainage 
from  the  nineteenth  century  can  bring  so  much  as  a 
silver  ripple  across  its  sullen  face.  Its  shores  will  beat 
against  the  Future  like  a  brand  of  despair  hurled  at  the 
retreating  enemy  in  advance.  The  mushroom  type  of 
society  ignore  present  and  future  revelation  ;  they  ac- 
cept the  Bible  as  a  moiety  to  sustain  the  even  hand  of 
Justice,  that  never  flinches  in  doing  an  act  of  duty.  Let 
our  acquirements  be  what  they  will  in  the  seeds  of  old 
theology,  Justice  never  tampers  with  the  affairs  of  men. 
She  clothes  herself  with  the  habiliments  of  truth  and 
equity,  and  warbles  forth  no  strains  of  discord.  Our 
pillar  of  strength  is  our  fortitude  to  branch  out  in  life, 
and  hold  on  to  the  rein  of  just  deal  with  our  fellow- 
beings.  I  no  longer  marvel  at  inconsistencies  in  human 
nature.  Every  individual  possesses  the  distinctive  ele- 
ment to  rear  a  platform  of  free  purposes  of  action ;  but 
there  is  always  a  hinge  loose  that  makes  the  platform 
shaky,  and  beyond  our  control  to  manage  to  advantage. 
The  next  course  pursued  is,  instead  of  seeking  a  remedy 
to  remove  the  defect,  we  give  up  the  ship  entirely,  and 
sink  to  the  float-bridge,  that  is  ever  ready  to  catch  the 
unstable  and  dilatory  ones  of  earth.  Human  nature 
lays  no  plan  of  escape  from  the  vestments  of  sin.  Sin 
binds  itself,  with  its  armor  of  truth,  to  the  purpose  it 
serves.  There  is  no  sin  but  what  has  its  concordant 


THEODORE  PARKER.  47 

element  of  defeat  growing  beside  the  still  waters  of 
despair.  The  word  "  sin  "  implies  the  absence  of  good  ; 
sin  Anglicized  implies  inharmony  in  the  constituents 
moving  our  course  of  life.  Now,  the  absence  of  the 
element  which  we  all  condemn,  and  which  we  all  im- 
bibe, would  leave  the  world  in  a  state  of  nude  purpose. 
The  element  of  conflict  is  as  necessary  as  the  element 
of  peace.  Both  rest  quiescent  in  their  orbit  of  perpetual 
movement.  The  gyrating  hand  of  Time  can  never  pick 
the  system  of  good  and  evil  apart.  They  are  twins 
in  the  field  of  cause  and  effect ;  they  are  co-workers 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  Siamese  in  nature  and  prin- 
ciple to  maintain  the  binding  cord  of  unity  of  purpose 
to  serve  mankind.  Sin  has  no  separate  purpose  from 
good.  It  bears  its  relative  value  in  the  current  arti- 
cles before  .the  world.  Sin  never  yet  mastered  the 
emotion  of  good.  Good  is  more  tranquil  in  nature  than 
the  opposing  element,  leading  us  to  suppose  the  ascen- 
dency has  been  gained  over  the  more  quiet  movements 
of  the  soul.  After  Nature  has  had  her  fits  of  howling 
discord,  the  golden-crowned  monarch  lifts  his  head  ex- 
ultingly,  and  proclaims  the  sure  defeat  over  assumptive 
power.  We,  in  our  nature,  partake  of  the  great  solar 
systems  that  encompass  our  being.  The  laws  that  gov- 
ern our  natural  orbit  on  earth  run  parallel  with  the  laws 
that  govern  the  universe  of  matter.  Mind  is  the  deific 
figure,  the  stamp-mark  branded  on  our  ultimate  posses- 
sions over  gross  materiality. 


48  THE  SPIEIT-LIFE   OP 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE  solar  systems  govern  the  harmonial  law  of  our 
interior  individualization .  The  solar  key  unlocks  the 
prisoned  earth,  and  lets  her  captives  free.  The  solar 
nucleus  springs  our  system  of  nerve-power,  unhinges 
our  slothful  habits,  and  awakens  us  to  the  grandeur  of 
activity.  We  are  a  part  and  parcel  of  the  great  ma- 
chinery of  natural  laws,  acted  upon  by  every  thing  in 
the  kingdom  of  Nature  ;  acted  upon  by  every  ray  of 
light  from  the  great  mining-house  of  God  ;  prone  to  do 
evil  because  it  is  a  concomitant  in  Nature  ;  prone  to  do 
good  because  that  balances  the  wheel  of  error.  Has 
not  every  person  having  a  foothold  on  earth  had  to 
acknowledge  the  ever  recurring  presence  of  the  smitten 
angel,  that  passed  from  the  house  of  God  with  visor 
drawn,  and  the  brand  of  dishonor  hurled  at  his  retreat- 
ing figure  ?  The  Devil,  it  would  seem,  has  occupied 
every  seat  of  honor ;  he  has  had  his  reign  supreme  on 
earth,  and  broke  bread  with  the  angels  in  Heaven  ;  and, 
to  this  day  he  rules  the  affairs  of  men  with  systematic 
precision  of  movement,  coupled  with  a  determination 
to  revenge  the  insult  shown  him  at  the  gate  of  heaven. 
The  Devil  rules  by  force  of  circumstances  :  he  picks 
his  way  with  perfect  adaptation  to  the  call  received  and 
the  means  to  overcome  to  obey  the  call.  The  Devil 
seldom  asks  charity :  that  spirit  of  meekness  does  not 
suit  his  dignity  of  purpose.  I  ever  found  in  my  earth- 
experience  that  the  temptations  of  Satan  ever  followed 
on  our  letting  down  the  bars  at  our  vineyard  of  strength, 


THEODORE  PARKER.  49 

and  leaving  no  watch  at  the  gap.  The  Devil  is  perfectly 
fool-hardy ;  fear  never  enters  the  vocabulary  of  his 
speech ;  he  trails  the  flag  of  truce  in  the  dust,  and  beats 
no  retreat  as  long  as  the  word  "  conquer  "  stares  him  in 
the  distance:  and  another  peculiarity  his  Majesty  assumes 
is  his  deft  and  cunning  ways,  ofttimes  leading  us  with 
his  hand  of  skill,  that  assures  us  of  perfect  safety,  when 
it  is  shaking  with  the  palsied  effort  to  maintain  the  dis- 
guise until  we  are  anchored  on  the  side  of  unsafe  foot- 
ing. The  Devil  masters  every  emotion  of  guile,  spread- 
ing his  wings  with  perfect  sangfroid ;  clasping  you  by 
the  hand,  and  showing  his  face  of  honest  integrity,  but 
with  a  sly  wink  that  bodes  mischief  in  the  future.  And 
so  on  I  might  trace  the  subtle  winding  of  King  Evil  to 
obtain  a  lasting  footing  with  the  children  of  earth ;  but 
as  that  is  not  my  speciality  in  this  present  work,  al- 
though, at  some  future  time,  I  may  show  the  monstrous 
bugbear,'  bearing  the  term  Devil,  to  the  world,  holding  a 
part  in  all  materiality  and  in  all  spirituality,  showing 
him  to  the  world  as  a  necessary  evil,  branded  with  con- 
tempt, but  bearing  the  stamp  of  use. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THERE  is  one  point  to  be  gained  over  society  before 
the  harmonious  element  can  sweep  the  world's  board  of 
error ;  and  that  one  point  is  as  defiant  as  the  unsheathed 
weapon  of  a  daring  foe.  This  braggadocio  of  defen- 
sive skill  is  world-renowned  for  its  activity  in  picking 

4 


50  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE   OF 

seeds  of  use  from  the  dry  and  barren  fields  of  theologic 
lore.  There  are,  no  doubt,  morsels  of  worth  interlaced  in 
that  mighty  fabric  composed  to  suit  the  emergencies  of 
the  heathen  world.  It  never  was  designed  or  labeled 
food  for  all  time :  if  such  had  been  the  case,  why  has 
the  stamp  of  discontent  found  its  way  to  the  sideboard 
of  every  generation  ?  why  have  there  been  anglers 
after  truth  not  found  in  sacred  history  ?  why  have  our 
palates  refused  to  discover  the  secret  aroma  that  has  its 
binding  worth  above  any  tinsel  or  glitter  of  false  pres- 
entation ?  The  Bible  is  filled  with  its  seeds  of  corrup- 
tion; its  fields  of  bloody  umpire,  that  the  soul  revolts 
and  creeps  away  from.  I  ask  of  any  mind  to-day,  lighted 
by  the  torch  of  reason,  how  the  Bible  version  of  the 
world's  formation  accords  with  their  faculty  of  thought  ? 
No  sane  mind  at  this  age  considers  the  miraculous  con- 
ception of  the  world's  birth,  promulgated  in  history,  as 
an  appeal  to  their  credit,  unless  the  statement  can  be 
dressed  in  some  figurative  style  to  suit  the  demand  of 
reason.  Man's  reason  is  his  highest  orbit  of  sense,  his 
highest  faculty  of  intuition,  the  lens  through  which  he 
looks  to  detect  the  spurious  from  the  true :  reason  is 
not  soluble  by  any  scales  but  the  preponderating  law 
of  cause  and  effect.  The  world  is  fast  losing  its  start- 
ing-point. It  is  no  longer  assumed  by  learned  minds 
that  it  sprang  from  chaotic  ruin,  or  that  it  took  form  in 
the  space  of  one  week,  and  rolled  out  into  ethereality 
ready  for  the  redeeming  hand  of  man,  not  yet  fash- 
ioned. I  wonder  at  the  inconsistency  of  thought.  I  won- 
der at  the  strange  idiosyncrasies  in  human  nature  as 
applied  to  the  religious  element  fostered  in  society.  I 
wonder  at  man's  faith  to  obtain  succor  from  dry  husks, 


THEODORE   PARKER.  51 

potted  down,  and  seasoned  with  the  bitter  herb  of  mal- 
ice prepense.  It  is  a  sad  thought  that  human  nature 
possessed  the  attribute  to  derive  pleasure,  hope,  or  sym- 
pathetic emotion,  from  the  presentation  of  mock  heroism, 
and  selfish  anarchy,  protruded  at  an  age  when  Devils 
were  manufactured  in  heaven.  Why  is  it  that  peo- 
ple go  back  for  messages  from  God  ?  Why  not  receive 
them  daily,  and  bind  them  as  a  truth  about  their  hearts  ? 
Why  pick  in  fields  that  have  been  culled  so  long,  to  the 
exclusion  of  receiving  fruit  ready  to  be  dropped  by  the 
angelic  band  traveling  for  the  world's  restoration  to 
happiness  and  content  ? 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MAN  fashions  his  own  life ;  that  is,  he  binds  the 
nectar  of  peace  about  his  heart-strings,  or  fills  his  field 
with  patches  of  barren  waste.  Youth  should  be  early 
taught  the  financiering  of  life  ;  should  early  take  up  the 
lesson  of  self-culture  ;  should  early  promise  a  gift  to  the 
soul,  and  scorn  to  break  the  promise.  Earth  is  filled 
with  starry  gems  that  the  recording  angel  is  toiling  to 
pick  for  his  crown.  The  hope  that  is  vested  in  uncer- 
tainty has  the  pinched-up  expression  of  despair.  Let 
the  light  of  a  just  knowledge  expand  the  well-springs  of 
action,  let  mankind  fill  their  storehouses  with  the  good 
seed  that  ripens  to  advantage,  and  soon  the  world  will 
be  rid  of  the  half-formed  fruit  that  now  appeals  at  the 
doorway  of  heaven.  I  have  before  remarked,  that 
God's  laws  were  a  systematic  course  of  activity,  work- 


52  THE    SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

ing  round  the  great  central  sun  of  their  orbit ;  and  why 
should  man  show  a  less  systematic  course  ?  why  should 
not  each  circle  in  his  orbit  of  motion  count  as  a  benefit 
in  the  great  stream  of  life  ?  Man  needs  to  be  awakened 
to  the  great  responsibility  of  his  mission  in  life ;  he 
needs  to  be  galvanized  with  the  lightning-flashes  from 
the  great  distillery-house  of  truth  ;  he  needs  to  have 
the  lighted  taper  of  damnation  hurled  at  the  retreating 
figure  of  Sin  :  and  its  echoing  wail  will  be  an  anthem  of 
joy  to  the  world.  I  have  nearly  completed  the  first 
canto  of  my  spiritual  state  of  existence.  I  have  given 
it  as  a  prelude,  or  connecting  link,  in  the  chain  of  my 
drifting  life  ;  I  have  handed  it  back  to  the  world  simply 
as  a  stepping-stone  to  reach  my  present  locality ;  I  have 
made  this  treaty  of  peace  as  connected  as  the  circum- 
stances and  conditions  through  which  I  have  labored 
would  permit  of:  it  is  simply  grains  of  earth-culture 
given  from  a  spiritual  platform,  and  tied  with  a  string  of 
truth.  I  must  touch  one  more  point  of  my  earth-career  ; 
must  pick  up  my  staff  of  infirmity,  and  taste  again  the 
bitter  cup  presented  by  the  hand  of  love.  My  last 
earthly  journey  was  fraught  with  great  inharmony  of 
spirit.  I  was  leaving  my  native  shores  ;  was  leaving 
my  dear  and  time-tried  friends  ;  was  leaving  the  associa- 
tions of  my  whole  ministerial  career,  entering  upon  a 
new  field  of  adventure,  with  no  strength  of  nerve  or  will 
to  struggle  in  untried  paths.  My  spirit  beat  its  prisoned 
walls  for  freedom  to  lift  the  clouds  that  hung  over  my 
future.  I  knew  that  my  friends  were  being  entirely 
shut  out  from  my  future  on  earth  ;  I  knew  the  destroy- 
ing angel  was  following  in  my  wake,  ready  to  lift  me 
overboard  when  Earth  had  duly  performed  her  mission. 


THEODORE  PARKER.  63 

The  angel  of  death  is  seldom  met  with  pleasure.  We 
can  view  his  shadow  in  the  distance,  and  feel  no  thrill 
at  the  danger  he  represents;  but  when  we  see  the 
enemy  on  our  track,  with  no  hope  of  re-enforcements, 
the  battle-ground  of  life  presents  a  sad  and  troubled 
scene.  There  is  nothing  in  my  whole  earth-experience 
that  so  touches  my  memory  with  the  halo  of  regret  as 
the  parting  scene  beside  the  ship  that  gave  me  passage 
to  the  sunny  isle  that  now  fosters  the  remembrance 
of  the  lengthened-out  struggles  of  Theodore  Parker. 
When  I  recall  my  death-bed  scene,  and  mingle  its  waters 
with  the  tide  of  grief  that  assailed  me  at  Boston  Har- 
bor, I  can  not  compare  those  graphic  pictures,  delineated 
on  the  tablet  of  memory,  with  any  preponderance  of 
affection  shown  or  tears  dropped  at  my  departure. 
Boston  claims  my  energetic  investment  of  strength; 
claims  my  manhood-endeavors  to  foster  the  seeds  of  love 
and  harmony,  and  carry  my  weapon  of  courage  to  bat- 
tle the  iron  door  of  oppression  that  is  swinging  on  its 
hinges  for  the  release  of  human  weakness,  and  emanci- 
pation from  the  errors  of  the  past. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

ONE  more  word,  and  then  I  will  pick  up  my  spirit- 
staff,  and  point  the  way  my  footsteps  are  now  tending. 
Earth  holds  her  banner  of  strength  in  accumulated 
deeds.  The  tinsel  and  glitter  of  false  pretense  have  no 
weight  in  the  great  scales  of  human  happiness.  All  in- 


54  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

dividuality  must  touch  a  vibrating  cord  in  the  under- 
current of  human  greatness.  All  mankind  seek  a 
culminating  point  of  honor,  seek  the  glory  achieved  in 
imaginative  moments  of  worth  to  the  soul.  Earth  is 
one  vast  play-ground,  and  all  seeking  to  touch  the  goal 
of  public  acceptance.  Every  play  has  its  reference  of 
approval  fixed  in  the  minor  scales  of  the  world's  judg- 
ment. Earth  holds  her  banner  of  trust  for  all  time  : 
she  has  her  despairing  moments,  and  sees  no  end  to  the 
besetting  curse  of  sin.  But  the  illuminated  points  of 
God's  beneficent  purposes  shine  in  on  the  troubled 
waters  of  Old  Earth's  career ;  and  she  folds  again  her 
hands  with  the  full  assurance  that  her  rudder  of  strength 
is  in  the  grasp  of  a  propelling  force  anterior,  and  above 
her  power  of  ability  to  control.  When  the  majesty  of 
this  theme  sweeps  across  the  magnetic  fibers  of  my  soul, 
I  feel  the  inspiration  from  the  dissolving  truths  wafted 
through  ten  thousand  channels,  and  speaking  in  their 
ever-varying  tongues  of  hope,  peace,  and  joy  over  the 
fruitions  of  earth.  Mankind  has  only  commenced  drink- 
ing at  the  fountain  of  life.  The  waters  that  quench 
their  thirst  to-day  are  but  a  drop  beside  the  majestic 
stream  that  will  irrigate  the  ice-bound  shores  of  Time. 
The  deluge  that  shall  next  sweep  the  world  will  be  a 
flood  of  truth  ;  and  no  ark  of  safety  will  need  to  ride  its 
waters,  and  no  dove  will  be  sent  forth  to  proclaim  the 
subsiding  of  the  elements  of  peace  that  will  follow  in 
the  wake  of  truth.  The  altar-fires  of  heaven  are 
glowing  with  revelations  to  be  given  to  the  world  as  fast 
as  the  hand  of  Science  clears  away  the  rubbish  that  has 
so  long  presided  over  the  affairs  of  men.  The  auxiliary 
steps  to  be  taken  to  clear  the  channels  leading  to  the 


THEODORE  PARKER.  65 

mythical  heaven  of  all  superstition,  of  all  allegorical 
matter,  of  all  the  presumption  of  creeds,  and  of  all  false 
precepts  and  examples  that  darken  the  doorway  of  faith, 
and  leave  us  stragglers  around  a  truth  we  can  not 
fathom,  are  these  ;  let  Charity  preside  over  the 
N  orld's  board  of  error ;  let  Love  dip  her  wings  in  all  the 
stagnant  waters  beside  the  stream  of  life,  and  let  Wisdom 
lead  the  way  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  great 
central  sun  of  our  ultimate  destiny ;  and  so  let  mankind 
journey,  with  the  true  knowledge,  not  born  of  hope, 
but  in  the  science  of  God's  word :  and  light  will  spring 
up  in  all  dark  places,  and  no  stumbling-blocks  will  ap- 
pear on  the  roadway  of  life. 

THE   END    OF   THE   FIRST   CANTO. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

IT  may  seem  strange  for  me  to  state  my  present  abili- 
ty to  preside  over  the  affairs  of  mankind  on  earth  ;  but 
the  statement  is  nevertheless  correct,  and  I  am  impressed 
with  the  duty  to  explain  spirit-elevation  above  the  crude 
affinity  of  earth.  This  disclosure  will  test  the  utmost 
powers  of  comprehension,  and  still  I  will  give  it  in  as 
clear  and  lucid  a  manner  as  words  can  express  the 
thoughts  I  shall  utter.  Spirit-communion  has  ever 
been  an  established  fact ;  and,  although  mankind  have 
preached  and  prayed  from  that  fountain  of  living  worth, 
it  has,  until  recent  years,  been  clothed  in  mystery,  and 
talked  about  as  a  world  we  could  not  fathom,  as  a  world 


56  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

of  awe  not  soluble  by  any  code  of  faith,  or  any  power  of 
comprehension  that  mind  had  attained  to,  until  the  gen- 
tle and  low-toned  raps  were  heard  at  Rochester,  and 
those  silvery  chimes,  so  fraught  with  hope  and  strength 
to  the  world,  startled  the  nineteenth  century,  and  awak- 
ened them  to  a  sense  of  putting  on  a  cap  of  thought, 
and  sending  out  the  spirit  of  investigation  to  fathom  the 
significance  of  those  unseen  sounds.  The  world  at  large 
dropped  the  brand  of  "  humbug  "  on  those  tiny  efforts  of 
spirit-control.  The  world  has  ever  cried  "humbug!" 
to  a  theory  not  understood,  has  ever  assailed  a  truth  with 
weapons  of  defense,  and  sought  no  advantage  over  the 
errors  of  the  past ;  but  the  wheel  of  Time  has  dropped 
truths  for  mankind  to  sift,  regardless  of  any  hue  and  cry 
of  public  favor.  Will  mankind  please  to  remember  that 
every  advance  step  over  ignorant  assumption  has  dug  its 
way  through  the  fiery  furnace  of  discordant  elements, 
seared,  scorched,  and  blasted  by  the  infernal  machinery 
of  human  laws  ;  but  Truth  ever  seats  herself  with  a  tri- 
umphant smile,  high  and  dry  above  any  code  of  human 
enactment  to  frustrate  or  dishonor.  Spirit-communion 
is  the  bar  let  down  for  the  world's  redemption  and  resto- 
ration from  the  sin  of  Adam's  fall ;  spirit-communion  is 
the  harbinger  of  the  coming  man  that  is  to  lead  the  way 
to  life  everlasting,  and  flood  the  world  with  a  new  bap- 
tism and  a  new  birth.  Then  will  the  glory  of  the  Lamb 
appear  in  a  cloud  of  truth  over  benighted  Christianity, 
and  the  veil  of  mysticism  and  doubt  will  no  longer  hang 
over  the  world.  I  took  my  departure  from  earth,  or,  rather, 
from  my  material  body,  with  the  full  assurance  of  reten- 
tive individuality.  Up  to  the  last  moment  of  earth's  mas- 
tery, I  possessed  my  power  of  thought  distinct,  possessed 


THEODORE  PARKER.  57 

the  power  to  trace  myself  through  space,  possessed  the 
faculty  to  feel  myself  in  space  ;  my  physical  body  was 
losing  its  charm,  days  before  my  spirit  took  its  flight ; 
my  bed  of  sickness  was  radiant  with  hope  ;  and  I  had 
the  drifting  halo  of  peace  beside  me  daily.  When,  at  the 
last  hour  of  my  stay  with  mortality,  the  death-film  shut 
friends  and  attendants  from  my  outward  vision,  my 
spirit  took  in  the  full  and  complete  detail  of  the  dying 
scene  ;  and,  were  I  an  artist,  I  could  sketch  it  to  the  life, 
for  it  hangs  in  my  gallery  of  memory  fadeless,  and  dewy 
with  the  inspiration  of  loving  friendship  :  I  hold  that  scene 
in  sacred  keeping.  I  can  not  lift  the  spell  that  attaches 
me  to  earth,  because  the  sympathetic  cord  is  galvanized 
•with  the  true  essence  of  salvation  ;  that  is,  the  dew  of 
the  harmonial  law  pervading  all  space  :  therefore,  when 
I  seek  earth,  I  clothe  myself  with  the  ether  dew  of  my 
habitation,  and  seek  the  corresponding  element  in  hu- 
manity. I  seek  the  cord  of  sympathy,  or  sympathetic 
emotion  :  that  law  runs  parallel  with  the  law  of  cause 
and  effect.  It  may  be  well  for  me  to  explain  the  sym- 
pathetic law,  or  the  binding  law  that  runs  through 
all  materiality  and  through  all  spirituality  :  it  is  the 
force  and  coercive  law  that  moves  the  machinery  of 
Nature ;  it  is  the  cause  of  things  made,  and  it  be- 
gets its  own  formation.  Like  begets  like  in  every 
code  of  order.  The  formation  of  worlds  is  accom- 
plished by  the  sympathetic  movement  of  elementary 
matter.  The  cohesive  strata  in  earth  attach  the  pri- 
mates to  a  focus  of  strength  ;  and  repeated  effort  at  cen- 
tralization causes  a  rounded-out  form  of  matter.  Let 
me  give  an  illustration  ;  take,  for  instance,  a  globule  or 
drop  of  water  ;  condense  that  by  freezing  ;  it  may  assume 


58  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE   OF 

a  variety  of  shapes :  but  let  a  sympathetic  sunstroke 
touch  those  particles  of  congealed  water,  and  they  in- 
stantly assume  the  rounded-out  form  of  mother-earth, 
showing  conclusively  that  the  primates  in  matter  strictly 
adhere  to  first  principles.  Dissolve  particles  of  earth,  for 
instance  ;  you  will  find  that  the  minutest  portion  is  in 
keeping  with  the  great  mass  from  which  it  was  removed. 
This  is  a  complex  study,  the  law  of  centralization,  the 
law  that  sticks  to  first  principles.  You  can  not  destroy 
one  particle  of  earth,  you  can  not  fix  it  or  shape  it,  but 
what  its  ultimate  will  assume  its  mother-form  ;  and  that 
same  law  runs  through  all  substance.  The  formation 
system  has  its  birth  from  a  necessity  in  the  financiering 
of  elementary  motion.  The  first  driftings  of  earth's  com- 
motion were  crude  efforts,  not  legalized  in  history,  for 
the  very  reason  that  speech  was  denied  our  first  par- 
ents. That  effort  in  man  was  accomplished  by  elon- 
gated power  over  respiratory  motion.  Man  in  his  first 
development  was  only  removed  from  the  beast  by  intui- 
tive reason,  therefore,  made  capable  of  improvement, 
susceptible  to  external  influences,  holding  a  key  of 
strength  to  unlock  the  cycles  of  time,  and  round  out  to 
the  full  estate  of  a  world  in  motion.  Man  is  but  a  coun- 
terpart of  Nature:  every  element  in  the  storehouse  of 
earth  finds  its  sympathetic  monitor  in  man's  outward 
construction ;  and  the  radiating  influences  in  man  dip 
their  beaks  in  the  worlds  that  motionary  earth  has 
etherealized,  and  sent  into  space.  That  thought  is  glow- 
ing with  grandeur,  and  finds  sympathetic  accordance  in 
the  world  I  now  inhabit.  Man  radiates  to  his  true  pur- 
pose through  the  same  law  that  particles  of  earth  as- 
sume a  standard  shape ;  but  for  the  law  of  sympathy 


THEODORE  PARKER.  59 

tlie  world  would  be  motionless,  congealed  into  frozen 
antipathy,  with  no  sunbeams  to  illuminate  her  secret 
springs  of  action ;  and,  but  for  the  law  of  sympathy  in 
the  binding  forces  of  intellectuality,  there  would  be  no 
stamp-mark  to  insure  the  meed  of  approval. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THEREFORE,  as  I  before  stated,  when  I  seek  earth,  I 
clothe  myself  with  the  conditions  of  earth,  —  clothe  my- 
self in  a  condition  to  reach  that  atmosphere.  It  is  merely 
a  similitude  of  the  changes  that  are  necessary  on  earth 
to  meet  the  changes  in  atmospheric  pressure ;  or  it  is 
simply  a  change  of  clothing  to  suit  the  locality  we  are 
journeying  to.  What  satisfies  the  body  in  summer 
time  is  in  no  way  suitable  for  a  winter's  atmosphere ; 
and  when  Earth  fails  in  her  atmospheric  conditions  to 
supply  the  part  of  man  that  belongs  to  her,  then  the 
higher  law  steps  in  to  the  rescue,  and  folds  an  arm  of 
strength  and  sympathy  around  the  spiritual  element ;  or 
that  condition  in  man  that  needs  a  change  of  climate. 

O 

Man  possesses  the  element  of  change  in  exact  ratio  with 
the  changes  in  Earth.  We  see  the  Earth  with  our  vision 
of  Earth  ;  but  we  can  not  with  that  Earth-vision  see  her 
secret  springs  of  motion.  Are  we,  then,  to  doubt  the  ex- 
istence of  her  ethereal  life,  —  her  life  of  silvery  harmony, 
that  throws  off  her  crude  material,  and  goes  on  wJth  her 

'  O 

work  of  reproduction,  but  always  with  reference  to  the 
higher  law  ;  always  changing  her  material,  throwing  off 


60  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OP 

the  old,  and  putting  on  the  new ;  always  clothing  her 
spirit  with  new  beauty  and  symmetry  of  design  ?  Earth 
has  her  spiral  forces  that  point  heavenward.  She  holds 
within  her  receptacles  the  monitors  that  grasp  the  un- 
seen cords  of  sympathy  that  keep  green  her  fields,  and 
ripen  her  vineyards  of  strength,  to  still  further  the  law 
of  sympathy  existing  between  her  outward  surface  and 
the  component  parts  of  man's  organic  structure.  You 
can  not  separate  man  from  earth,  because  the  law  of 
sympathy  outlasts  time.  There  will  ever  be  an  element 
in  man  that  will  correspond  with  the  intuition  in  Nature. 
Nature  can  not  tell  why  she  builds.  It  is  not  because 
she  has  not  the  power  of  expression ;  for  her  face  pro- 
claims her  power  of  speech  in  ten  thousand  low  and 
mellow  sounds,  and  speaks  in  every  variety  of  dialect 
that  human  nature  can  fathom.  Still  she  refuses  to 
utter  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  her  existence ;  but  I 
ween,  at  some  future  day,  there  will  be  a  revelation  from 
Old  Nature  that  will  fix  her  starting-point,  and  show 
the  consistency  of  mind  in  matter. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE  intuitive  faculties  in  Nature  correspond  precisely 
with  the  intuitive  law  in  man  and  animal.  It  is  simply 
the  capacity  to  draw  productive  power  when  needed, — 
simply  the  power  to  collect  re-enforcements  by  the  inter- 
nal element  of  demand.  Man,  animal,  and  Nature 
reach  out  the  aspiring  hand  of  want  to  the  spiral  foun- 


THEODORE  PARKER.  61 

tain  of  life,  whose  springs  we  can  not  see  with  Nature's 
vision,  but  whose  wealth  we  may  feel  in  every  strata  of 
mind  and  matter.  Heaven  has  fixed  her  stamp-mark  on 
every  particle  of  earth's  fruition  :  she  holds  her  claim 
serene  and  majestic,  with  no  ripples  of  doubt  to  mar  her 
quiet  surface  of  content.  Heaven  and  earth  are  part- 
ners for  life.  You  can  not  divorce  their  system  of  ope- 
ration ;  it  is  co-existent  with  the  deity  of  purpose,  twin 
in  sympathetic  emotion  and  vibratory  accordance :  and 
that  they  are  nearing  in  their  ultimate  destiny  is  evident 
from  the  non-satisfaction  evinced  in  bygone  theories. 
Man  is  sure  to  bring  heaven  and  earth  together,  because 
man  holds  the  power  to  act  from  reason :  all  other  vi- 
bratory activity  is  consequent  on  the  law  of  cause  and 
effect,  or  the  law  of  give  and  take.  Man  is  the  focus 
of  strength  uniting  the  two  worlds,  sure  to  elevate  the 
earth  by  taxation  on  heaven,  if  need  be ;  and  as  that  is 
Lne  last  demand  made  for  the  benefit  of  humanity,  it  is 
evident  that  the  past  promulgation  of  theological  bom- 
bast is  losing  its  power  of  control,  and  humanity  are 
seeking  those  fields  of  living  green,  whose  fadeless  worth 
will  frustrate  every  ill  that  sorrowing  Earth  takes  to  her 
platform  of  use. 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

MY  present  locality,  to  use  a  symbolized  expression,  is 
a  gem  found  beside  the  river  of  the  stream  of  life.  It  is 
the  pearl  expressive  of  great  future  worth.  I  have  ar- 
rived, by  constant  application,  to  the  third  constellation 


62  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

of  shining  luster,  —  the  third  realm  inhabitable  in  space. 
It  is  located  in  proximate  affinity  to  Taurus  or  the 
Pleiades,  that  nebula  of  stars  situated  in  the  constellation 
of  Andromeda.  The  atmosphere  of  my  present  locality 
is  fragrant  with  the  dew  of  hope :  I  am  clothed  in  the 
vestments  of  a  June  morning  on  earth ;  or,  rather,  I  am 
clad  in  the  white  garments  of  peace.  Clothing,  in  the 
spirit-world,  is  emblematical  of  the  conditions  of  the  soul. 
White  signifies  peace,  a  chastened  condition  gained  from 
culture  in  every  stage  of  development.  My  abode  lacks 
nothing  to  my  present  growth  ;  every  niche  is  filled  with 
satisfaction  to  my  soul.  Those  on  the  earth-plane  who 
conjecture  the  soul  to  be  mythical  —  a  fleeting,  shadowy, 
ethereal  something,  not  tangible  by  faith  or  actual  dem- 
onstration —  will  no  doubt  be  surprised  and  incredulous 
when  I  here  declare  the  soul  to  be  a  substantial,  living 
embodiment  of  growth  and  consequent  power.  The  soul 
is  the  essence  of  manhood  or  of  childhood ;  it  is  the  intellec- 
tual tissues  woven  into  symmetry  of  motion,  —  the  think- 
ing apparatus  distinct  in  operation,  bearing  similitude  to 
its  casket  of  clay.  The  man  of  earth-proportions  is  the 
husk  that  protects  the  kernel  through  the  earth-experi- 
ence, no  more  needed  when  the  kernel  is  ready  for  the 
harvesting.  Earth  takes  care  of  her  part  with  ready 
skill  and  consummate  art,  that  hides  her  secret  springs  of 
action.  Man  was  never  known  to  search  in  earth  for 
any  thing  belonging  to  himself:  his  intuitive  reason 
points  above  the  materialistic  plane  of  life.  What  is 
there  in  Nature  that  satisfies  man  above  the  wants  that 
Nature  manifests?  Man  ever  has  a  star  of  hope  in  the 
ascendant,  ever  an  illuminated  pathway  leading  from 
the  grave,  ever  a  pillar  of  strength  in  history,  or  some 


THEODORE  PARKER.  63 

by-path  of  his  own  finding  ;  then  wherefore  is  it,  when 
we  in  spirit-life  seek  to  make  conjecture  a  living  reality, 
seek  t6  personify  spirit-life,  seek  the  divine  afflatus  of 
strength  to  carry  our  work  on  earth,  that  the  opposing 
elements  meet  us  with  their  pointed  daggers  of  distrust, 
and  a  hang-dog  look  of  shame  at  being  found  in  the  field 
of  investigation  for  facts  to  corroborate  the  sly  inklings 
of  truth  so  often  dogged  at,  but  seldom  hit. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

I  WILL  again  resume  my  point  of  local  bearing  to  the 
world,  and  test  the  credulity  of  my  fellow-beings  on 
earth.  I  before  said,  that  white  was  emblematical  of 
peace.  My  vestments  are  real  to  the  sphere  I  inhabit. 
This  ethereality,  or  spirit-costume,  was  taken  on  at  what 
is  termed  the  death-hour.  Let  me  here  explain  the 
procedure  of  spirit-ability  to  assume  the  ethereal  cos- 
tume that  the  vision  of  earth  can  not  detect.  Let  us 
assume  that  spirit  is  the  breath  breathed  into  man  at 
birth.  Can  we,  with  our  earth-vision,  see  that  breath  ? 
see  the  power  that  ushers  life  into  a  structure  formed 
through  Nature's  laws  ?  Are  we,  then,  to  doubt  that 
power,  that  unseen  capacity  in  man,  that  vibrates  to  the 
myriads  of  keys  in  Nature's  wardrobe  of  use  ?  If  man 
is  to  doubt  every  thing  not  in  keeping  with  his  earth- 
vision,  then  may  he  doubt  his  earth-existence  because  he 
can  not  see  his  power  of  life.  His  locomotive  springs  of 
action  are  hid  from  the  outward  view.  It  is  only  the  in- 


64  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

terior,  the  spirit,  that  feels  the  life-springs  of  motion ; 
feels  the  electric  current  permeating  all  space ;  feels  the 
power  to  soar  above  the  outward  form  ;  and,  possessing 
that  power,  it  necessarily  reveals  itself.  Therefore,  when 
I  say  the  soul  walks  away  from  its  clothing  of  earth,  I 
state  a  fact  that  is  soluble  to  reason. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

WERE  mankind  to  allow  reason  a  freer  scope,  it  would 
impart  new  vigor  to  the  life-forces  of  action.  Man  has 
yet  to  learn  that  reason  is  the  key  that  unlocks  the 
scientific  world,  and  brings  the  treasure  of  life  to  a  basis 
of  truth  where  no  doubt  can  disturb  its  sure  foundation. 
My  ethereal  life  is  clothed  with  vestments  of  substantial 
evidence  to  the  society  that  occupy  my  sphere  in  the 
order  of  progression.  The  fabric  in  which  we  clothe 
ourselves  is  tangible  to  our  sense  of  touch  ;  and,  when  I 
say  it  is  all  woven  in  the  looms  of  earth,  I  state  another 
fact  that  I  must  prove  with  the  key  of  reason.  The 
fabric,  or  illusory  material,  as  earth  terms  spirit-clothing, 
is  the  finesse,  or  the  art  in  Nature,  of  the  outwrought  ma- 
terials of  earth.  It  is  the  fancy  dictum  of  the  interior 
design;  it  is  the  test-mark  of  inorganic  substance,  the 
nerve-portion  underlying  the  outspoken  design.  Let 
me  illustrate.  In  order  to  bring  out  a  design,  whether 
in  substance  to  clothe  a  material  body,  or  in  the  con- 
ception of  some  grander  scheme,  reared  for  the  world's 
benefit,  it  is  necessary  to  fashion  the  fabric  or  structure 


THEODORE  PARKER.  65 

on  the  internal  plane  of  thought ;  and  the  mind  that 
fashions  on  earth  takes  that  same  power  of  design  to  the 
higher  sphere  of  use.  The  condition  of  the  soul  always 
seeks  its  affinity  in  artistic  worth  and  ability.  There- 
fore, when  I  say  spirit-vestments  are  a  condition  of  the 
soul,  it  is  no  more  than  saying  that  my  earth-garments 
were  the  outwrought  fancy  or  condition  of  my  mind  or 
soul.  My  fancy,  when  on  earth,  led  me  to  the  attire 
of  black ;  and  now,  when  I  near  earth,  I  assume  the 
old  condition  of  mind.  And  those  that  see  with  the 
light  of  clairvoyance  always  see  me  in  my  suit  of  black. 
Let  me  give  another  illustration.  Take,  for  instance,  the 
color  of  green.-  Now,  the  combination  of  oxidized  gases 
compose  the  prismatic  shades  in  that  one  color.  Note, 
for  instance,  the  shading  of  a  rainbow.  Does  it  ever 
occur  to  the  public  mind  that  man,  on  earth,  helps  to 
fashion  the  rainbow  ?  Let  me  explain  the  process  by 
which  it  is  done.  Rainbows  assume  the  different  shades 
of  coloring.  Sometimes  we  see  them  span  the  heavens 
dressed  in  the  rosy  tints  of  morning ;  at  other  times,  they 
don  their  blue-tinted  robes ;  and  ofttimes  they  appear  in 
the  shimmering  dress  of  green,  showing,  conclusively, 
that  the  system  of  change  is  not  confined  to  earth ;  and 
also  showing  the  disposition  in  ethereal  space  to  har- 
monize and  blend  the  true  elements  of  purpose  in  con- 
structing the  rainbow.  As  I  before  remarked,  man  on 
earth  helps  to  fashion  the  rainbow  through  the  law  of 
give  and  take.  Man  on  earth  possesses  the  power, 
through  chemical  process,  to  embody  the  electric  cur- 
rents or  the  prismatic  shades  that  vibrate  through  the 
universe  of  color.  Now,  as  man  possesses  the  ability 
to  embody  the  primates,  or  bring  out  a  color  from  pri- 

5 


66  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

mordial  confusion,  he  possesses  the  power  to  embody 
that  color  in  space ;  and  there  it  undergoes  the  process 
of  blending.  Those  on  earth  who  suppose  that  labor 
ceases  at  the  expiration  of  material  existence,  will  be 
surprised  to  know  that  the  truth  of  labor  is  accomplished 
in  the  spirit- world,  that  the  essence,  or  ideal,  finds  shape 
through  the  active  energies  of  spirit-life.  Color  is  a  con-, 
dition  of  the  soul.  I  have  my  earth-conditioned  gar- 
ments, my  spiral-pointed  armor,  which  bears  the  rosy 
hue  of  morning ;  and  my  white  robe  of  peace,  that  as- 
similates with  my  present  condition  of  mind.  I  might 
here  state  that  life  is  a  condition  of  soul,  —  the  only 
condition  that  remains  firm  to  its  trust,  because  life  is 
soul,  the  intuitive  essence  that  symbolizes  structure,  and 
manifests  itself  in  out  wrought  design. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

I  WILL  now  take  up  my  present  condition  in  space : 
and,  to  the  eye  of  faith,  I  am  doing  the  Lord's  will ;  but 
in  reality  I  am  on  the  direct  road  of  progressive  movement, 
having  followed  out  the  dictates  of  conscience,  my  mon- 
itor of  strength,  in  ushering  me  along  the  road  of  salva- 
tion, until  this  present  time  finds  me  in  a  condition  to 
master  every  difficulty  that  impeded  my  progress  on 
earth.  My  condition  of  soul  is  in  harmony  with  the 
system  of  laws  through  which  I  labor.  I  am  in  no  way 
constrained.  Labor  assumes  its  standard  worth  :  each 
department  has  its  pointer  of  use,  directing  me  onward 


THEODORE  PARKER.  67 

and  upward  to  pick  in  fields  not  yet  open  to  earth.  My 
road  lies  up  the  steep  and  rugged  hill  of  duty.  I  claim 
no  wings  of  flight  aside  from  those  tipped  with  the 
ether  dew  of  use. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

I  AM  at  this  present  time  folding  the  leaves  of  my 
past  biography.  It  is  written  on  the  fine  tissued  sheets  of 
vellum  manufactured  from  ethereal ized  substance  found 
in  the  second  sphere :  it  is  a  species  of  galvanized  rubber- 
lasting  prepared  from  oxidized  gases  or  fluids ;  it  is 
done  through  chemical  process,  brought  to  a  higher 
focus  of  power  than  earth  claims  at  present.  Galvan- 
ized rubber  forms  a  part  of  the  basis  of  etherealized 
atmosphere :  it  is  the  soluble  part  to  the  outward  sense. 
The  other  portions  of  ether  forming  the  electric  currents 
in  atmospheric  conditions  have  their  basis  in  the  minu- 
tiae of  earth  soluble  to  that  code  of  reason  that  acknowl- 
edges the  ether  dew  or  the  finesse  dictum  in  all  substance, 
—  the  portions  of  earth  that  throw  off  the  strata  or  inor- 
ganic particles  that  compose  space ;  the  portion  that 
contains  the  sympathetic  monitor,  or  the  portion  that 
graduates  to  intelligence.  That  may  be  a  new  thought 
to  some,  that  matter  contains  any  intellectual  parts  ;  but 
there  is  a  strata  running  through  all  matter  possessing 
the  component  element  of  intellectuality.  It  was  that 
same  element  in  mother-earth  that  made  man  upright, 
and  endowed  with  reason.  Mother-earth  has  ceased  to 
build  from  the  bygone  fashion,  because  the  necessity  is 


68  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE   OF 

passed  ;  and  the  higher  law  came  to  the  rescue  as  soon  as 
reason  could  exert  a  sway  outside  of  primordial  sub- 
stance. Then  Nature  had  accomplished  her  highest 
effort,  and  man  then  possessed  a  key  to  unlock  old  Na- 
ture, and  bring  her  to  the  platform  of  investigation,  to 
find  her  subtle  element  or  elements  that  compose  the 
spiral  points  of  reason.  In  a  work  that  the  ensuing 
spring  will  bring  before  the  public,  the  Alpha  and  Omega 
of  spirit-claim  on  and  over  the  rudimental  shaping  of 
earth  will  be  tested.  The  work  I  here  advertise  will  em- 
brace the  primordial  confusion  of  matter,  and  bring  out 
the  strata  of  mind  that  wrought  structure  and  shape 
from  confused  inharmony  of  chaotic  ruin. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

MY  present  condition  of  life  is  rather  picturesque :  I 
have  my  harbor  of  refuge,  my  home  of  secret  pleasure 
and  thought,  my  fancy-wrought  Castle  of  Ease  in  the 
ascending  scale  of  progress.  I  think  every  person  has 
a  local  habitation  of  ease  somewhere  in  the  future  ;  and 
that  breastwork,  thrown  up  for  the  soul  to  reach  and 
mount,  keeps  green  the  field  of  hope,  and  leads  us  out 
to  span  the  unseen  shores  of  time  and  eternity.  My 
present  home  winds  its  sustaining  arm  of  strength  around 
my  every  wish  and  purpose.  I  find  gifts  for  the  soul  in 
every  corner  of  my  local  habitation.  Let  me  here  de- 
scribe my  seat  of  honor,  or,  in  other  words,  give  the  ex- 
act dimensions  of  my  spirit-home.  As  I  before  stated,  my 


THEODORE  PARKER.  69 

local  resort  is  situated  in  the  third  sphere,  near  the  con- 
stellation of  Andromeda :  it  bears  the  tropical  clime  along 
its  smooth  and  undulating  plots  of  verdured  green.  My 
mansion  of  rest  from  active  duty  is  in  the  suburban  style, 
with  broad  parterre  and  sylvan  haunts  that  vibrate  to 
the  mystic  touches  of  my  white-robed  angel  friends.  But 
to  make  my  home  more  definite,  more  tangible  to  earth, 
I  will  give  it  in  the  form  of  a  parable ;  I  will  dress  it  up 
in  allegory,  but  with  the  stamp-mark  of  truth  facing 
every  side  of  my  spirit-edifice.  We  term  spirit  the  life, 
the  pulp  of  being,  the  interior  casket,  that  takes  pre- 
cedence in  going  a  journey,  or  going  to  rest,  or  in  any 
effort  that  requires  movement.  The  spirit  first  starts  the 
team  of  strength  that  moves  the  outward  edifice.  Let  us, 
then,  suppose  the  interior  portion  of  man,  the  casket  of 
strength,  the  pulp  of  being,  desires  to  outstrip  time ;  de- 
sires to  build  from  the  interior  plane  of  thought ;  that  is, 
desires  to  fashion  a  structure  that  time  can  not  control. 
The  very  desire  is  outwrought  on  the  spirit-camera  in 
space  ;  the  desire  is  the  structure.  You  desire  to  build 
a  material  edifice  ;  that  is,  you  desire  the  protection  of 
the  material  body,  and  your  mind  fashions  from  material 
substance :  but,  in  every  particle  of  material  substance, 
there  is  spirit-architecture,  there  is  life  wrought  out  in 
what  seems  dead  structure.  Now,  the  homes  upreared 
from  thought  and  application  on  the  earth-plane  are  da- 
guerreotyped  on  soluble  atmosphere,  before  the  earth- 
provision  is  made.  We  speak  of  weaving  our  castles  of 
fancy  when  those  fancy-wrought  castles  are  the  real 
structures  of  endurance  that  Time  apes  at,  but  only 
reaches  in  a  bungling  manner.  We  can  not  build  on  the 
earth-basis  as  finely  as  spirit  can  conjecture  ;  and  why  is 


70  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE   OF 

that  nonconformity  to  thought  apparent  in  every  sym- 
bolized edifice  on  the  footstool  of  Time,  if  thought  found 
in  matter  its  fruition  of  purpose  ? 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

MY  spirit-home  is  an  establishment  of  unpretending 
merit  as  far  as  its  local  purposes  are  concerned,  or  as  far 
as  it  supplies  the  attachments  that  the  past  can  claim. 
It  serves  as  my  restaurant  of  growth  at  present,  or  my 
refuge  from  impending  storms  that  threaten  every  cargo 
of  strength  on  the  boundless  sea  of  Time.  Let  me  here 
state  that  eternity  is  Time,  an  outreach  from  the  system 
of  days,  weeks,  months,  and  years ;  but  still  it  is  Time  on 
the  wing.  A  higher  schedule  of  purpose,  a  loftier  tone 
of  thought,  propelled  by  the  steam-car  of  progress.  My 
spirit-home  has  a  foundation-site  that  borders  on  the 
stream  of  Life  ;  it  fronts  the  chapel  of  Duty,  and  has  a 
corner  hedge  of  Doubt  to  dispel  the  inglowing  ease  of 
conditional  circumstances.  My  home  is  adorned  with 
pictures  of  art  ;  the  walls  are  frescoed  with  the  true  art 
in  Nature.  I  have  my  study-room,  my  system  of  study, 
or  my  system  of  thought,  brought  to  actual  use ;  I  have 
my  reception-room,  where  I  meet  my  spirit-friends  in  so- 
c'ial  converse,  where  we  gather  strings  of  pearls,  and 
count  them  for  the  benefit  of  each  other.  My  friend 
Rufus  Choate  proposed  to  me  at  one  of  our  usual 
gatherings  the  utility  of  constructing  a  system  where 
the  electric  band  can  be  used,  and  spirits  en  rapport  with 


THEODORE  PARKER.  71 

mortals  etherealize  the  electric  current  passing  round 
the  band,  and  thereby  assimilate  space  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  medium  operator:  that  would  be  wor- 
thy of  investigation  on  earth  ;  and  the  construction  of 
the  band  will  test  spirit-ability  to  personify  themselves 
on  independent  conditions.  A  word  to  the  wise  ntay 
be  productive  of  beneficial  results,  and  the  harbinger  of 
the  opening  day  when  the  glory  of  the  heavens  will  ap- 
pear, not  in  the  burning  bush,  but  in  the  mellowed  tints 
of  pearl-freighted  paradise. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

IN  constructing  the  band  for  spirit-messages  or  spirit- 
personations,  it  will  require  some  skill  in  management. 
The  band  should  be  made  of  perforated  isinglass  ;  the 
punctures  should  be  very  fine,  and  made  equidistant  from 
each  other.  The  ones  operating  in  spirit-realms  have  a 
basis  of  rubber,  that  being  more  easily  procured  ;  but,  for 
earth -purposes,  the  isinglass  would  be  more  preferable, 
because  atmospheric  conditions  would  have  less  effect, 
and  isinglass  could  be  brought  to  a  finer  state  of  con- 
sistency. Let  the  band  be  made  from  one  to  two  inches 
in  width  ;  let  the  perforations  be  accomplished  with  a 
very  fine  pointed  instrument.  This  band  can  be  worn  on 
any  portion  of  the  body,  only  graduate  the  size.  Isin- 
glass can  be  brought  to  a  state  of  elasticity  by  the  chem- 
ical process  of  blending  oxylized  gases,  or  the  nitrate  of 
silver  in  harmonious  parts  with  the  fundaments  of  gluti- 


72  THE   SPIKIT-LIFE   OF 

nous  substance.  The  band  can  be  made  with  very  little 
expense,  and  would  be  very  beneficial  in  detecting  spirit- 
power.  Spirits  can  only  work  under  conditional  cir- 
cumstances, as  man  on  the  earth-sphere  has  to  deal 
with  the  conditions  requisite  to  the  purpose  he  serves  ; 
antl  let  me  here  state,  that  conditional  spiritualism  must 
take  root  before  the  true  element  will  flourish.  Man- 
kind, in  seeking  spirit-communion,  should  first  seek  the 
conditions  whereby  spirits  can  come  en  rapport  with  mor- 
tals. If  man  on  earth  seeks  a  change  of  destiny  or 
circumstances,  seeks  a  change  in  his  local  bearing  to  the 
world,  every  condition  requisite  for  the  change  is  ob- 
served ;  but,  when  man  comes  to  spirit-conditions  in 
spirit-manifestations,  he  seems  to  ignore  every  system 
or  combination-force  in  their  mode  of  communication. 
How  is  it  that  man  drinks  in  so  little  sense  when  diving 
for  the  pearl  of  great  price  that  has  so  long  been  in  deep 
water  ? 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

LET  me  now  take  up  my  occupation,  and  bear  my  bur- 
dens back  to  the  world,  to  be  there  tested  and  weighed 
in  the  balance  with  common  sense  and  justice  of  acknowl- 
edgment. The  majority  of  people  on  the  earth-plane 
of  existence  suppose  that  spirit-life  is  divested  of  all  care 
and  labor,  that  we  float  in  space,  or  have  seats  of  honor 
surrounding  the  throne  of  God,  where  praise  and  thanks- 
giving is  the  continual  theme  of  evangelical  life.  Now, 
those  who  accept  that  life  of  ease  and  worship  will 


THEODORE  PARKER.  73 

look  upon  my  life  as  being  too  practical  for  heaven ; 
but  those  who  knew  me  on  the  earth-principle  of  life 
would  fully  understand  my  incapacity  for  serving  dead- 
letters.  That  may  seem  impious ;  but,  to  a  reflective 
mind,  God's  throne  of  worship  is  the  universe  of  deeds, 
and  God's  realms  of  space  are  glowing  with  the  active 
energies  of  disembodied  mortals.  All  labor  must  have 
a  systematized  footing  ;  must  have  aqueducts  of  use  lead- 
ing from  that  system,  and  pillars  of  strength  to  sustain 
the  embryotic  principle  of  worth  that  maintains  its  posi- 
tion above  any  altar  of  pride,  or  distilled  flummery  that 
mankind  manufactured  from  the  idle  driftings  of  polished 
fastidiousness  and  corrupt  inglory  of  content. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

MY  spirit-home  has  never  frustrated  one  desire  of  my 
earth-ability  to  perform  my  duty  of  purpose  in  main- 
taining my  system  of  thought  toward  the  high  and  holy 
calling  of  promulgating  the  true  seeds  of  the  Christian 
religion.  My  spirit-life  takes  form  in  active  works :  I 
see  my  way  through  active  precision  of  movement.  A 
friend  of  mine  called  at  my  study  a  short  time  since  for 
the  purpose  of  investigating  the  by-ways  of  poverty  in 
the  Second  Ward  of  Progress.  My  friend  stated  the 
condition  of  one  district  or  locality  where  God's  pruning- 
hook  of  knowledge  had  scarcely  found  an  entrance. 
The  inhabitants  of  that  locality  are  steeped  in  famine 
and  want :  they  are  the  offshoots  from  the  lower  grades 


74  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

of  social  life  on  earth.  And  let  me  here  state,  that  heav- 
en's door  is  open  to  all  life  ;  but  the  platform  has  a 
signal-gun  that  fires  a  bullet  of  disapproval  at  every 
intruder  that  shows  a  lack  of  the  current  material  sur- 
rounding the  gates  of  Paradise. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

I  HAVE  many  ways  for  the  exercise  of  energetic  effort. 
I  have  a  school  where  the  sciences  are  expounded  ; 
where  we  bring  earth  up  for  proofs  in  her  keeping  that 
will  expand  our  altars  of  thought,  and  cause  earth  to 
appear  like  the  background  in  some  fairy-scene.  Earth 
holds  her  pent-up  treasures  with  the  grasp  of  despair. 
The  fore-wind  of  knowledge  is  sweeping  her  fettered 
fields,  and  laying  waste  the  props  that  sustain  her  dy- 
nasties of  ignorant  power.  Earth  has  never  yet  laid 
open  her  secret  caverns  for  the  world's  investigation. 
The  law  of  ignorance  has  bound  her  selfish  chains  until 

O 

the  stroke  from  the  fire-altars  of  heaven  proclaimed  the 
victory  over  benighted  Christendom.  My  soul  cries  out 
for  light,  for  gifts  outside  of  the  impending  stroke  of 
pen.  I  would  fain  call  down  God's  truths  from  wells 
overflowing  with  love,  light,  and  knowledge ;  from 
worlds  that  span  the  broad  arena  above  my  platform  of 
comparative  growth.  But  the  World  must  be  handled 
with  gloved  fingers :  it  will  not  do  to  hasten  her  devel- 
opment. The  ploughshare  of  Truth  cuts  deep  and  wide, 
and  also  bears  a  leveler  in  front  to  beat  aside  the  cor- 
rupt cumbrances  of  Time. 


THEODORE  PARKER.  75 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

MY  spirit-life  bears  unction  of  grandeur  and  power  in 
thought  and  purpose  to  serve  mankind  as  long  as  ser- 
vices from  my  sphere  of  gleanings  are  required  or  needed. 
I  am  laboring  now  to  establish  free  moral  government, 
independent  of  sex,  color,  hierarchy,  or  monarchy ;  in- 
dependent of  creed,  statue,  or  the  press.  That  may  seem 
a  broad  sweep  for  freedom ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  the 
true  aim  of  freedom.  Individualization  is  sure  to  be  ac- 
complished. Each  mind  must  become  a  world  unto  it- 
self; and  every  star  that  sets  in  the  ascendent  throws 
out  a  focus  of  light  that  illuminates  the  channels  of  earth. 
My  duty  lies  in  the  direction  of  all  fettered  institutions 
of  reform  ;  and,  while  I  seek  to  dispel  evil  in  spirit-life,  I 
seek  an  open  portal  to  reach  earth,  and  lay  my  flag  of 
truce  beside  the  quartered  enemy  of  doubt  and  fear.  I 
have  the  glowing  thought  of  use  ever  beside  my  wan- 
dering footsteps,  ever  prompting  me  to  search  and  find 
for  the  storehouse  of  memory  and  for  the  storehouse  of 
humanity.  You  can  not  separate  the  element  of  pur- 
pose existing  between  memory  and  humanity :  they  are 
co-existing  in  friendship,  parallel  in  purpose  to  serve  each 
other,  and  deft  in  the  use  of  instruments  propelling  their 
movements.  Memory  holds  her  shield  of  thought  high 
and  dry  above  the  conditions  of  time,  and  bears  her  emi- 
nent seat  back  to  earth  by  the  overland  route,  and  seeks 
no  other  way,  only  the  one  left  open  by  cause  and  effect. 


76  THE  SPI  KIT-LIFE  OF 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

SPIRIT-LIFE  lias  too  long  hung  a  dead-weight  on  the 
shoulders  of  Time.  The  incubus  of  ease  and  quiet  that 
has  so  long  surrounded  the  throne  eternal  is  preparing 
graduated  seats,  and  for  ever  closing  the  passage  to  that 
long  leap  in  the  dark  that  has  for  ages  hung  a  pall  of 
terror  around  the  destiny  of  man.  Wherefore  has  this 
change  been  wrought  ?  and  wherefore  are  mankind  seek- 
ing the  element  of  purpose  in  their  outreach  after 
heaven  ?  Is  it  not  because  God's  favored  few  fail  to 
procure  a  hearing  at  the  seat  of  reason  ?  and  is  it  not  be- 
cause mythology  sickens  the  soul,  and  dampens  the  ener- 
gies of  faith  and  hope  ?  The  nineteenth  century  is 
seeking  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.  The  spirit  of 
energetic  movement  feels  cramped  and  dwarfed  in  pur- 
pose in  the  confined  atmosphere  of  sectarian  by-paths 
and  lodgments  for  the  soul's  ease  and  immolated  daring. 
The  spirit  of  unrest  is  traveling  the  earth,  seeking  the 
items  that  the  hand  of  Fate  drops  in  the  car  of  Time  ; 
and  the  spirit  of  unrest  is  ushering  in  the  New  Jeru- 
salem ;  is  picking  up  the  staff  of  common  sense,  and 
traveling  out  on  the  progressive  road  that  leads  to  ulti- 
mate success,  and  also  leads  to  ultimate  happiness  by  the 
diverging  lines  drawn  by  active  duty  in  every  vineyard 
on  the  course  of  time. 


THEODORE  PARKER.  77 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

LET  me  here  say,  that  my  present  occupation  is  just 
as  real,  just  as  much  an  embodied  fact,  just  as  much  an 
effort  to  cany  out  a  purpose,  to  culminate  a  design 
formed  by  the  will,  as  was  any  effort  I  ever  made  on 
earth  to  further  a  scheme  fostered  by  my  reason.  There 
is  no  such  thing  as  an  illusion :  every  shadow  has  its 
substance ;  and  every  inlaid  principle  its  embodiment  in 
art.  Spirit  is  the  reality  of  a  personated  being,  the 
life-giving  element  to  design,  the  spiral  point  that  reaches 
above  matter,  the  focus  of  power  on  earth,  and  the  ul- 
timate of  man.  Spiritualization  is  the  heaven  of  earth, 
the  finale  of  all  matter.  The  world  will  never  know 
where  it  left  its  material  body,  never  realize  the  utter 
baptism  of  dogmatic  prejudice.  The  World  is  nearing  a 
great  social  earthquake :  there  will  not  be  so  much  as  a 
pillar  left  of  the  old  formula  and  systematic  worship,  and 
by-plays  of  social  epologue,  that  furnishes  a  whip  and 
driver,  but  no  fitting  harness,  to  travel  the  road  of  life 
in.  Society  must  outgrow  its  stern  decree  of  rule,  its 
system  of  slavery,  that  furnishes  a  beaten  track  that  in- 
dividual effort  must  walk  in.  I  ignore  the  force  of  rule ; 
I  ignore  any  system  that  carries  the  lash  of  coercion,  and 
the  hoodwink  of  public  deception  to  the  world's  arena 
of  strength.  I  may  not  give  another  combined  experi- 
ence to  the  world.  This  work  has  occupied  my  leisure 
moments  since  the  24th  of  July  last ;  and,  in  giving 
it  to  the  public,  I  have  labored  under  great  disad- 
vantages: but  I  would  have  it  fully  and  distinctly 


78  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

understood,  that  I  have  carried  the  point  for  which  I  la- 
bored. Let  me  touch  one  more  point  of  spirit-duty, 
give  one  more  galvanic  shock  to  the  world ;  and  then  I 
will  prepare  for  publication  the  work  I  have  before  al- 
luded to,  entitled  "  Marigolds  by  the  Wayside."  It  will 
be  the  prose  and  poetry  of  life,  the  actual  and  ideal, 
which  is  the  actual  imperfectly  understood. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

AN    APPENDIX   TO   THE   FOREGOING   WORK. 

IN  giving  an  appendix  to  this  work,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  state  my  object  in  so  doing.  Human  nature  is 
prone  to  doubting ;  prone  to  see  what  is  not,  in  prefer- 
ence to  what  is.  I  can  not  divest  myself  of  the  idea 
that  1869  will  leave  the  world  flooded  with  more  truth 
and  knowledge  than  any  previous  year  in  the  calendar 
of  Time.  The  reason  of  my  adding  an  appendix  to  a 
work  already  completed  is  the  faith  I  have  in  words 
coupled  with  works  ;  and  I  never  yet  finished  a  subject 
of  thought,  but  what  more  could  have  been  said  to  ad- 

O         ' 

vantage.  That  may  seem  egotistical ;  but  egotism,  to  a 
certain  extent,  is  necessary.  It  would  be  unwise  to  ig- 
nore the  true  art  of  thinking.  The  true  purpose  of 
thought  serves  in  the  world.  Thought  is  the  essence 
of  a  purpose,  the  aroma  that  floats  around  a  design  ; 
thought  is  the  distilling  dew  to  meditation,  the  secret 
spring  that  puts  the  machinery  of  the  world  in  motion. 


THEODORE  PARKER.  79 

Therefore,  when  thought  seeks  to  gather  for  the  service* 
of  mankind,  let  the  seeds  of  appreciation  sometimes  drop 
by  the  wayside. 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

IN  fitting  out  a  ship  to  cross  the  ocean,  great  care  is 
observed  in  having  every  part  serve  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  designed ;  and  so,  when  man  starts  out  on 
the  voyage  of  life,  it  is  well  to  have  his  sails  set  in  the 
right  direction  ;  to  have  his  ship  of  thought  bear  anchor 
at  every  port  where  science  and  philosophy  have  dropped 
a  cargo  to  be  lifted  on  board  for  the  world's  strength 
and  honor.  Mankind,  as  a  general  principle,  lack  in 
the  system  of  thought ;  lack  the  power  of  application  to 
delve  out  a  structure  whose  basis  is  an  inlaid  principle 
of  mind.  The  power  of  mind  is,  to  a  great  extent, 
fashioned  from  necessity.  Man  never  attains  to  his  full 
hight  when  cradled  in  the  lap  of  luxury.  It  is  the  stern 
winter  of  adverse  circumstances,  the  stern  decree  of 
Fate  weaving  its  web  of  cunning  meshes  with  the  intri- 
cate finger  of  Content,  to  be  thrown  around  the  first 
bidder  for  honors  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Thought 
fashions  from  a  necessity  in  the  motionary  elements  of 
Time.  There  is  no  expansion  to  thought  unless  excited 
from  the  outside  world  ;  unless  the  reins  of  government 
be  thrown  at  the  organ  of  visual  sense,  and  caught  at 
by  the  finger  of  Want:  and  then  Thought  steps  down 
from  her  pedestal  of  ease,  and  manufactures  skill  from 


80  THE  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF 

the  conception  of  use.  Thought  is  only  indolent  from 
non-ability  of  physical  movement ;  whether  it  be  insuffi- 
ciency in  organized  parts  or  the  inactivity  of  muscular 
effort,  both  have  the  neutralizing  effect  on  the  viscera 
of  sense.  Indolence  is  the  moth  that  eats  away  the 
time-table  of  man,  and  leaves  him  floating  in  space,  aim- 
less, purposeless,  and  almost  soulless ;  a  drug  to  be  fos- 
tered by  the  energetic  law  of  recompense.  Man  on 
earth  is  fool-hardy  and  unwise  to  tamper  with  time,  to 
let  his  well-springs  of  thought  dry  up  and  choke  to  death 
.'or  the  want  of  a  balance-wheel  in  the  outside  world  to 
light  up  the  "springs  of  action  to  furnish  the  evidences 
that  he  has  lived,  and  lived  to  a  purpose  in  life. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 

THE  Carthagenian  War  spread  its  devastating  influ- 
ence around  the  whole  Romish  empire :  the  feudal  force 
of  arms  swept  the  Roman  Senate  clear  of  the  pillared 
wrongs,  that,  year  after  year,  had  convened  at  the  citadel 
of  strength.  War  ever  holds  a  purifying  tone  in  the 
background  ;  ever  lights  the  future  with  a  torch  of  hope, 
and  feels  the  victory  won  as  a  new  start  on  the  road  of 
principle.  The  true  essence  of  war  is  purificatioii ;  and 
the  next-signal  gun  will  be  fired  at  the  national  treasury- 
house  of  Sin.  The  Future  of  earth  will  burnish  her  board 
of  deal  with  a  lithographic  design,  where  principles  will 
rear  an  honest  background,  and  the  children  of  earth 
can  be  seen  reflected  with  new  aims  to  fashion  their  ca- 


THEODOKE  PAKKER.  81 

reer  in  life.  The  tidal  wave  of  Time  moves  the  great 
ocean  of  man's  eventful  career;  era  after  era  sweeps 
along  the  uneven  track  of  the  world's  destiny.  The 
harbinger  of  peace  ever  walks  in  the  ascending  path- 
way ;  the  glory  of  the  rising  generation  will  be  wafted 
on  high  by  the  trumpeters  of  truth  that  will  be  set  over 
the  lost  tribes  of  Israel. 


CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

THE  world  is  nearing  the  great  blending  crisis  when 
Jew  and  Gentile  will  drink  of  the  wine  prepared"  as  a 
ritual  of  saving  ordinance,  and  a  breastplate  of  church 
desecration.  It  is  time  that  the  blood  of  Christ  be  served 
from  the  standpoint  of  principle,  instead  of  the  upheaved 
holocaust  of  sacrificial  altars  and  synods  of  heterodox 
mummery.  The  Christian  era  is  laboring  out  of  her  toils ; 
is  bending  the  bow  of  promise  to  every  rational  mind, 
and  lifting  the  salvation-seat  above  the  shoes  of  men. 
The  Christian  era  was  born  of  a  principle  ;  the  out- 
wrought  structure  of  Christ  mingled  its  healing  in- 
fluence with  the  old  Jewish  assumption  of  power  and 
idolatrous  worship.  Christ's  first  presentation  was  from 
a  humble  standpoint  of  view.  He  was  the  meek  and 
loving  Saviour,  the  one  with  God  in  spirit,  the  one 
clothed  with  immortality  for  the  whole  race  of  mankind  ; 
but  successive  years  have  changed  the  whole  outward 
bearing  of  Christ's  mission  on  earth.  Who  thinks  of 
worshiping  Christ  in  sackcloth  and  ashes  at  the  present 


82  THE   SPIRIT-LIFE   OF 

time  ?  Who,  of  all  that  are  seated  along  the  broad-aisles 
of  the  world's  fashionable  churches  drink  in  the  true 
spirit  of  the  Christian  Godhead  ?  Christ  is  the  adorning 
grace  in  every  sanctification-seat  reared  for  the  world's 
benefit ;  but  it  is  the  outward  emblem  that  precedes  the 
inglowing  beauty  of  the  loving  Jesus.  It  is  plain  to  be 
seen  that  Christ's  spirit  of  meekness  is  not  the  dress 
worn  on  the  all-important  once  a  week,  when  the  true 
spirit  of  the  Christian  religion  is  dwarfed,  and  worn  like 
a  plaster  of  penance,  to  be  removed  when  the  "  Amen  " 
drops  from  the  pillared  sanctuary:  it  is  plain  to  be  seen 
that  Christ  is  dressed  in  effigy ;  that  his  adorning  grace 
is  an  outside  covering,  worn  for  the  benefit  of  public 
opinion.  When  Christ  becomes  the  standard-bearer  of 
principles  instead  of  the  background  to  a  system  of 
slavery,  and  the  holly-branch  to  wave  for  the  world's 
pride  and  egotistical  bearing,  then  will  Gethsemane 
sprout  the  true  basis  of  the  Christian  era. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

MY  next  work  will  contemplate  the  duties  of  the 
Christian  religion ;  show  the  true  meaning  of  Christ, 
or,  in  other  words,  the  prose  and  poetry  of  his  career. 
It  will  be  delving  some  ways  for  first  principles  ;  but,  in 
order  to  have  a  solid  foundation,  there  must  be  an  under- 
current from  which  to  fashion  the  living  stream.  There 
is  nothing  so  conducive  to  happiness  as  a  firm  trust  on 
an  unperverted  God.  Nothing  so  expands  the  mind  as 


THEODORE  PARKER.  83 

searching  for  the  imperishable  seed  from  which  our  lives 
took  root.  The  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob, 
still  flourishes  the  wand  of  peace  around  the  world's 
board  of  salvation.  The  God  of  Israel  speaks  in  all  the 
modern  dialects,  and  in  all  modern  institutions  of  reform, 
and  in  the  whispering  winds  that  proclaim  the  shattered 
glory  of  the  olden  anarchy  of  wrongs.  Future  years 
will  rear  a  Godhead  or  Principality  of  Power  that  will 
flourish  like  the  green  bay-tree,  and  throw  out  a  branch 
of  hope  to  every  soul  on  the  highway  for  the  principle 
of  life.  Justice  demands  a  change  in  the  Godhead  ;  and 
the  law  of  equity  and  right  are  clamorous  to  establish 
the  principle  of  Infinite  Power  beyond  the  reach  of  a 
personal  God  to  demolish.  The  tread- wheel  of  Time 
will  lay  an  evacuation-fee  on  all  the  incidental  whipping- 
posts and  scourging-rods  that  ignorance  has  reared  by 
the  wayside.  God  will  yet  speak  to  the  understanding 
of  mankind.  He  will  yet  rear  a  foundation-seat  in  the 
world  that  the  mind  can  grasp,  and  see  the  safety-valve 
through  which  the  world  will  pass  to  its  regeneration- 
seat. 


CHAPTER   XL. 

I  MUST  give  this  work  to  the  world  from  my  stand- 
point of  spiritual  growth ;  and,  from  a  spiritual  stand- 
point, I  must  dedicate  the  element  of  reform.  I  would 
have  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  spiritualism  an  abiding 
emblem  of  contentment  and  peace.  I  would  have  the 
Rock  of  Ages  cleft  to  the  center,  and  fashioned  to  the 


84  SPIRIT-LIFE  OF  THEODORE  PARKER. 

understanding  of  mankind  ;  I  would  have  the  beauty  of 
Christ's  life  worn  as  an  every-day  suit  by  the  world's 
nationality ;  I  would  have  Christ  triumph  in  a  world  he 
came  to  save,  and  in  a  world  that  has  so  long  lighted  its 
taper  of  knowledge  at  his  fountain-head  ;  I  would  have 
Christ  the  recognized  element  along  the  road  of  progress ; 
and,  finally,  I  would  have  Christ  the  redeeming  quality, 
in  mankind,  the  star  whose  splendor  is  to  reflect  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth. 


THE   END. 


•P 


